The Ministry of Health is reporting 157 new Covid cases in the Bay of Plenty today.

In it's 1pm statement, the Ministry says there are 3297 cases being reported nationwide.

Of those, 157 are in the Bay of Plenty and 54 are in the Lakes District.

Auckland has reported 1729 new cases, while Southern DHB is the next highest with 455 new cases.

The Ministry says the number of people in hospital with the virus is now at 179, with four in Tauranga Hospital and three in the Lakes DHB district.

In a post on Facebook, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board says pop-up Covid-19 testing is available at Mount Maunganui Sports Centre this week!

The centre, on the corner of Maunganui and Hull Roads, is open between 9 am and 3 pm weekdays this week.

"Our First Avenue Covid-19 Community Testing Centre is closed during weekdays this week, with further updates to follow.

"You'll continue to see our friendly staff from First Avenue at the Mount Sports Centre for all your testing needs.

"Please remember: you do not need to get tested unless you are unwell with cold or flu symptoms, have been identified as a close contact of a case, or have been instructed to do so by health officials."

See below for a full breakdown of today's numbers.

COVID-19 vaccine update

Vaccinations administered in New Zealand

• Vaccines administered to date: 4,017,433 first doses; 3,954,560 second doses; 32,757 third primary doses; 2,223,385 booster doses: 230,960 paediatric first doses and 2,081 paediatric second doses.
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 566 first doses; 1,239 second doses; 178 third primary doses; 25,367 booster doses; 1,368 paediatric first doses and 118 paediatric second doses.

People vaccinated (including those vaccinated overseas)

• All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,060,013 partially vaccinated (96.5%); 3,995,818 second doses (94.9%), 2,225,028 boosted (67.7% of those eligible).*
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 518,191 partially vaccinated (90.7%); 496,668 second doses (87%), 185,703 boosted (57% of those eligible)
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 280,206 first doses (97.7%); 273,850 second doses (95.5%), 111,346 boosted (54.5% of those eligible)
• 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 230,871 first doses (48.5%)
• 5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 33,328 first doses (28.8%).
• 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 19,849 first doses (40.2%)

*Note, that the number for 'people vaccinated” differs slightly from 'vaccines administered” as it includes those that have been vaccinated overseas.

Vaccination rates for all DHBs (percentage of eligible people aged 12 +)

• Northland DHB: partially vaccinated (90.3%); fully vaccinated (87.7%); boosted (66.9%)
• Auckland Metro DHB: partially vaccinated (97.3%); fully vaccinated (96%); boosted (64.5%)
• Waikato DHB: partially vaccinated (95.2%); fully vaccinated (93.4%); boosted (64.3%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: partially vaccinated (95.2%); fully vaccinated (93.1%); boosted (65.3%)
• Lakes DHB: partially vaccinated (93.6%); fully vaccinated (91.3%); boosted (66%)
• MidCentral DHB: partially vaccinated (96.8%); fully vaccinated (95.1%); boosted (70.3%)
• Tairāwhiti DHB: partially vaccinated (93.2%); fully vaccinated (90.5%); boosted (66.7%)
• Whanganui DHB: partially vaccinated (92.3%); fully vaccinated (90.4%); boosted (71.4%)
• Hawke's Bay DHB: partially vaccinated (97.1%); fully vaccinated (95%); boosted (69%)
• Taranaki DHB: partially vaccinated (94.8%); fully vaccinated (93%); boosted (65%)
• Wairarapa DHB: partially vaccinated (96.7%); fully vaccinated (94.9%); boosted (73.1%)
• Capital & Coast DHB: partially vaccinated (98.7%); fully vaccinated (97.7%); boosted (74.8%)
• Hutt Valley DHB: partially vaccinated (96.9%); fully vaccinated (95.6%); boosted (72%)
• Nelson Marlborough DHB: partially vaccinated (96.8%); fully vaccinated (95.2%); boosted (74.7%)
• West Coast DHB: partially vaccinated (93%); fully vaccinated (91%); boosted (71.5%)
• Canterbury DHB: partially vaccinated (99.7%); fully vaccinated (98.5%); boosted (69.1%)
• South Canterbury DHB: partially vaccinated (95.4%); fully vaccinated (94%); boosted (72.5%)
• Southern DHB: partially vaccinated (97.8%); fully vaccinated (96.5%); boosted (72.5%)

Hospitalisations

• Cases in hospital: total number 179: North Shore: 33; Middlemore: 68; Auckland: 58; Tauranga: 4; Lakes: 3; Waikato: 8; Hutt Valley: 2; Capital and Coast: 1; Canterbury: 2
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 51
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 1
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (19 cases / 14.7%); partially immunised  

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 2,257
• Seven day rolling average of border cases: 8
• Number of new community cases: 3,297
• Location of new community cases*: Northland (40), Auckland (1,729), Waikato (297), Bay of Plenty (157), Lakes (54), Hawke's Bay (18), MidCentral (56), Whanganui (5), Taranaki (30), Tairāwhiti (16), Wairarapa (16), Capital and Coast (123), Hutt Valley (28), Nelson Marlborough (85), Canterbury (176), South Canterbury (7), Southern (455), West Coast (3)
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 8
• Location of origin of border cases: Full travel history not obtained (8)
• Number of active community cases (total): 21,648 (cases identified in the past 21 days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 38,951 

* Please note, the Ministry of Health's daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.

Tests

• Number of tests total (last 24 hours): 27,550
• Tests rolling average (last 7 days): 28,951
• Testing positivity (last 24 hours): 12.2%
• Number of Rapid Antigen Tests stock available in New Zealand: 6.9 million

Updates of note

In recent days, the number of cases reported for Southern DHB has been lower than the true number because a large number of people have tested positive who have National Health Numbers linked to a home address outside of the Southern DHB region – these cases have been included in other regions' case counts.

A large number of people who returned a positive result in the Southern region yesterday who have addresses outside of the region are included in Southern's case count today after work by health officials to reclassify the cases. This explains why there is a larger increase in Southern's cases reported today compared with previous days.

It is important to note that a case undercount anywhere in the country does not significantly impact our assessment of the outbreak, public health decision-making or public health advice.

Based on overseas experiences, the Ministry of Health has been expecting the true number of community cases to be higher than the cases reported each day and this has been factored into our Omicron planning.