People with Covid-19 will no longer have to self-isolate for 10 days as shortened isolation requirements come into effect today. Everyone can leave isolation after seven days, rather than 10 days, if they test positive.
Household contacts can leave the house on day eight if they return a negative RAT test on day three and seven. If people are still symptomatic after seven days, they are advised to keep isolating.
The country reached its highest daily death toll on Friday, when seven people with the virus were confirmed to have died.
The country is in the midst of its Omicron outbreak, with 20,989 new cases announced on Friday, bringing the total number of active cases to 209,754. There are 848 people in hospital.
The president of New Zealand's student union association has criticised the Government's booster rollout for leaving out 17-year-olds, many in their first weeks of university where Covid-19 is rife.
As New Zealand edges towards a peak in Covid-19 cases, parts of Australia are potentially facing a second wave of Omicron.
But we are not there yet. Health officials will in the next few days know whether Auckland's Omicron peak is declining, and a nationwide peak might be a couple of weeks away.
Hospitals around the country are grappling with severe staff shortages as the number of people hospitalised with the virus rose. In Auckland, care hubs to cater for people with Covid-19 who need urgent care for problems unrelated to the virus have been launched to relieve pressure on the city's emergency departments.
Auckland's health boards report being 'very stretched” amid the outbreak, with non-healthcare workers, such as executive and legal teams, making beds and delivering meals, or being redeployed as security guards.
In Waikato, hospital management is sending office workers to help on the floor as hospital attendants and putting off planned care.
Officials have moved to a new reporting approach for Covid-19 deaths, counting all deaths within 28 days of a Covid-19 diagnosis.
In other news, the first new Covid-19 therapeutic drug to get Medsafe's approval demonstrates "significantly diminished potency" against Omicron. Medsafe approved the Covid-19 drug Ronapreve in December 2021 and secured enough doses to treat 5300 people. The medicine mimics the body's natural defences for fighting disease and is given intravenously or as an injection.
Vaccination rates
As of 11.59pm on March 10, more than 2.4 million booster shots had been given nationally.
Of the eligible people aged 12 and over, 96 per cent have had their first dose, 94 per cent their second, and 72.7 per cent have had their booster.
For Māori, aged 12+, 91 per cent have had their first dose, and 87 per cent their second. For Pacific Peoples, aged 12+, 98 per cent had their first dose, and 96 per cent their second.
To date, 52.8 per cent of 5 to 11-year-olds have had their first dose.
Cabinet ministers will in the next few days discuss whether 16 to 17-year-olds will become eligible for a booster dose against Covid-19 while Medsafe will decide whether it can be used as a booster dose in the next few weeks.
It comes as high rates of the virus among school children continue to disrupt education. But Auckland University professor Nikki Turner, medical director of the Immunisation Advisory Centre and a member of the group, says many adults with other conditions, Māori and Pasifika, are still waiting on their booster dose amid the Omicron peak.
New Waikato University research found that priority groups including Māori, Pasifika and older people had 'significantly lower” access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Global toll
Data from Johns Hopkins University shows more than 454 million people have been infected with Sars-CoV-2, and more than 6 million have died. Vaccination efforts are continuing with nearly 10.6 billion doses administered around the world.
The United States continues to record the most cases and fatalities - more than 79.4m cases and 966,172 deaths.Germany has the highest 28-day rolling total, with 4,746,018 cases reported in the last month.
The Australian state of New South Wales is preparing for a doubling of its coronavirus cases next month, Health Minister Brad Hazzard has warned, with data suggesting a newer version of the Omicron variant is becoming the state's dominant infection.
There were 16,288 new local cases on Thursday, up from 11,338 on the same day last week. Hospitalisation and intensive care numbers have been stable over the past two weeks, after previously declining.
Niue would struggle with a community outbreak of Omicron, a Niuean public health expert has said. His comments come after the country recorded its first-ever case of Covid-19, in a traveller who arrived on Monday from New Zealand and is in quarantine.
Hong Kong is reporting tens of thousands of new cases a day, with the highest fatality rate in the world, according to the New York Times. It is unclear whether a new lockdown could be imposed to try and contain the outbreak in one of the last places in the world still trying to eradicate the virus, the Times said.
Austria abandoned its vaccine mandate, citing milder Omicron symptoms.
What should I do?
During phase 3 act as if you have Covid-19, Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says.
Free rapid antigen tests can now be ordered online from a new Ministry of Health website. Anyone with symptoms can order a test on the RAT requester site and collect it from 146 sites nationwide.
People should use the Covid-19 tracer app.
If you are sick, call your GP before you visit, or Healthline on 0800 358 5453.
To avoid contracting and spreading the virus, wash your hands properly, cough and sneeze into the crook of your elbow and throw tissues away immediately.
Reach out, find support from people who care, connect with your community or help a neighbour in need.
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