More than 800 people are now in hospital with Covid-19.

In a live media conference this afternoon, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says there are 21,015 new community cases in New Zeakland.

"We have 845 people in hospital, 16 in ICU or HDU.

"There are 208,625 active Covid cases in New Zealand.

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

Bloomfield says all current cases have been genomically sequenced as Omicron.

He says the delta variant has not been detected in New Zealand since February.

"There are now more people in hospital with Covid-19 than at any other point over the last two years.

"DHBs have been planning and preparing for managing Covid-19 and the higher number of cases in the community which are resulting in more people in hospital.

"Our hospitals and their dedicated teams are continuing to do what's needed to make sure everyone gets the treatment they need.

"DHBs have the flexibility to change their operations to respond to sharp increases in Covid-19 case numbers.

"Significant effort has been made by DHBs to maintain service delivery over recent months and measures have been put in place, like extended hours, weekend lists, outsourcing, and increased use of telehealth to maintain delivery.

"DHBs are also prioritising urgent and non-deferable cases which is ensuring they can cope with these extra demands. We sincerely thank them for their continued efforts during this time."

COVID-19 vaccine update

Vaccinations administered in New Zealand

• Vaccines administered to date: 4,022,125 first doses; 3,966,593 second doses; 34,154 third primary doses; 2,488,753 booster doses: 251,583 paediatric first doses and 6,041 paediatric second doses
• Vaccines administered yesterday: 282 first doses; 822 second doses; 42 third primary doses; 8,970 booster doses; 625 paediatric first doses and 295 paediatric second doses

People vaccinated

• All Ethnicities (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 4,067,584 first dose (96.6%); 4,009,395 second dose (95.3%), 2,490,396 boosted (72.6% of those eligible)
• Māori (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 520,560 first dose (91.2%); 501,286 second dose (87.8%), 217,026 boosted (59.8% of those eligible)
• Pacific Peoples (percentage of eligible people aged 12+): 281,445 first dose (98.2%); 275,731 second dose (96.2%), 129,657 boosted (59.5% of those eligible)
• 5 to 11-year-olds all ethnicities: 251,395 first dose (52.8%); 5,940 second dose (1.2%)
• 5 to 11-year-olds - Māori: 38,587 first dose (33.4%); 987 second dose (0.9%)
• 5 to 11-year-olds - Pacific Peoples: 22,393 first dose (45.3%); 703 second dose (1.4%)

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*

• Northland DHB: first dose (90.5%); second dose (88.1%); boosted (70.3%)
• Auckland Metro DHB: first dose (97.4%); second dose (96.2%); boosted (70.4%)
• Waikato DHB: first dose (95.4%); second dose (93.7%); boosted (68.5%)
• Bay of Plenty DHB: first dose (95.4%); second dose (93.5%); boosted (69.2%)
• Lakes DHB: first dose (93.7%); second dose (91.7%); boosted (69.5%)
• MidCentral DHB: first dose (96.9%); second dose (95.4%); boosted (74.9%)
• Tairāwhiti DHB: first dose (93.5%); second dose (91%); boosted (70%)
• Whanganui DHB: first dose (92.5%); second dose (90.7%); boosted (74.5%)
• Hawke's Bay DHB: first dose (97.4%); second dose (95.5%); boosted (72.8%)
• Taranaki DHB: first dose (94.9%); second dose (93.3%); boosted (69.9%)
• Wairarapa DHB: first dose (96.8%); second dose (95.2%); boosted (75.6%)
• Capital & Coast DHB: first dose (98.8%); second dose (98%); boosted (81.1%)
• Hutt Valley DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.8%); boosted (77.2%)
• Nelson Marlborough DHB: first dose (97%); second dose (95.6%); boosted (76.2%)
• West Coast DHB: first dose (93.1%); second dose (91.3%); boosted (74.5%)
• Canterbury DHB: first dose (99.9%); second dose (98.9%); boosted (75.2%)
• South Canterbury DHB: first dose (95.5%); second dose (94.3%); boosted (76.7%)
• Southern DHB: first dose (98.3%); second dose (97%); boosted (75.1%)

*Partially and second doses percentages are for those 12+. Boosted percentages are for 18+ who have become eligible 3 months after having their second dose

Hospitalisations*

• Cases in hospital: total number 845: Northland: 78; Auckland 159; Waitematā 154; Counties Manukau 196; Waikato: 71; BOP: 23; Lakes: 9; Tairāwhiti: 4, Hawke's Bay: 21; Taranaki: 10; MidCentral: 17; Whanganui: 3; Hutt Valley: 17; Capital and Coast: 46; Nelson Marlborough: 4; Canterbury: 18; Timaru: 2; Southern: 13.
• Average age of current hospitalisations: 54
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 16
• Vaccination status of current hospitalisations (Northern Region only, excluding Emergency Departments): Unvaccinated or not eligible (109 cases / 19.89%); partially immunised

*While still early in the Omicron outbreak, the figures show that, based on the data available, just over 3% of eligible people aged 12 and over in the Northern Region have had no doses of the vaccine, however, of those aged 12 and over in Northland and Auckland hospitals with COVID-19 for whom we have vaccination status recorded, 17% have had no doses of the vaccine.

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 19,741
• Number of new community cases: 21,015
• Number of new community cases (PCR): 660
• Number of new community cases (RAT): 20,355
• Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (689), Auckland (7,234), Waikato (2,016), Bay of Plenty (1,392), Lakes (632), Hawke's Bay (700), MidCentral (653), Whanganui (156), Taranaki (524), Tairāwhiti (353), Wairarapa (170), Capital and Coast (1,858), Hutt Valley (1,103), Nelson Marlborough (449), Canterbury (2,021), South Canterbury (109), Southern (918), West Coast (26); Unknown (12)
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 15
• Number of active community cases (total): 208,625 (cases identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 306,919

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 PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 4,817
• PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days up to 03/03): 8,240
• Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last 7 days): 14.3 million