Sunday February 20
There are 2,522 new cases of Covid-19 today.
Of these, 41 are in Northland, 1,799 are in Auckland, 188 in Waikato, 86 in Bay of Plenty, 11 in the Lakes District, 24 in Hawke's Bay, 13 in MidCentral, 2 in Whanganui, 9 in Taranaki, 12 in Tairāwhiti, 14 in Wairarapa, 54 in Capital and Coast, 25 in Hutt Valley, 53 in Nelson Marlborough, 76 in Canterbury, 1 in South Canterbury, 111 in Southern DHB and 3 locations are unknown.
Rapid antigen test update:
From Monday morning, rapid antigen tests will be made available at all Auckland testing sites to those who fit the appropriate clinical criteria. The site will determine which test (PCR or a rapid antigen test) is best for you.
Access to rapid antigen tests will be expanded further during the coming week.
As the outbreak grows more people will have Covid-19 and there will be more close contacts the Ministry will need to test. As planned they will now increase the use of RATs in phase 2 and phase 3 of their response in order to relieve pressure on the PCR testing and reserve it for those most likely to have Covid-19.
As the Ministry has previously said, only those with symptoms or who have been identified as close contacts of a case, or directed by a health professional to get tested should be turning up at testing sites.
There are 100 people in hospital, with none of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.
The average age of people currently in hospital is 56.
The vaccine and booster percentage numbers are currently unavailable, according to the latest Ministry of Health update.
Click here for a list of updated locations of interest.
Top image: A social distancing sign on narrow bridge. Photo: iStock/Getty Images
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