Friday March 18

There are 14,128 new cases of Covid-19 today and 943 people are in hospital with the virus.

Of these, 536 are in Northland, 3498 are in Auckland, 1333 in Waikato, 956 in Bay of Plenty, 416 in the Lakes district, 841 in Hawke's Bay, 599 in MidCentral, 205 in Whanganui, 470 in Taranaki, 232 in Tairāwhiti, 164 in Wairarapa, 906 in Capital and Coast, 549 in the Hutt Valley, 416 in Nelson Marlborough, 1937 in Canterbury, 135 in South Canterbury, 890 in Southern, 39 in the West Coast and 6 in unknown locations.

This brings the total number of active cases to 123,701

The Ministry of Health defines active cases as those identified in the past 7 days and not yet classified as recovered.

The ministry is asking people to report their negative and positive Rapid Antigen Test results. 

"It only takes a couple of minutes, and helps officials assess the outbreak and better understand the spread of Omicron," the ministry said in a media release.

Hospitalisations and Covid-19 related deaths

5 people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of publicly reported Covid-related deaths to 156.

The 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 8.

Delays to reporting on Covid-19 related deaths can be connected to people dying with, rather than of Covid-19, and Covid-19 being determined after they have died. 

Of the 5 people who have died, two were from Auckland, one from Waikato, one from Canterbury, and one from the Hutt Valley.

Of these people, one was in their 50s, two in their 70s and two in their 80s. Two were women and three were men.

There are 943 people in hospital, with 25 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.

The average age of people currently in hospital is 58.

Testing

If you take a RAT you must report the result, positive or negative. This can be done online through my Covid Record, or by calling 0800 222 478 between 8am and 8pm. 

Vaccinations

96.3 percent of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 95 percent have had a second dose.

Yesterday, 5335 booster doses were administered. 

Click here for a list of updated locations of interest.

Top Image: Person with their negative Rapid Antigen test result. (File photo) Photo: PrathanChorruangsak/iStock

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