The Ministry of Health is today reporting 2100 new community cases of Covid-19 and 15 deaths. There are 436 current hospitalisations, seven cases in ICU and 116 new cases that have recently travelled overseas.

There are 86 new community cases in Bay of Plenty, making a total of 1176 active cases in this region. Of these 17 are in Bay of Plenty hospitals. There are 47 new community cases in the Lakes region, making a total of 457 active cases. Of these 10 are in Lakes hospitals.

"Of the 15 people whose deaths we are reporting today, four were from Auckland region, three were from Waikato, one was from Hawke's Bay, one was from Taranaki, one was from MidCentral, two were from Wellington region, three were from Canterbury," says a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

Four were in their 70s, seven were in their 80s and four were aged over 90. Of these people, seven were women and eight were men.

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 3733 – last Sunday, it was 4302.

The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations today is 487 – last Sunday, it was 587.

There are now a total of 1824 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. The seven-day rolling average increase in total deaths attributable to Covid-19 is now 10.

Covid-19 hospitalisations

• Covid-19 Cases in hospital: total number 436: Northland: 16; Waitematā: 64; Counties Manukau: 38; Auckland: 55; Waikato: 68; Bay of Plenty: 17; Lakes: 10; Hawke's Bay: 19; MidCentral: 30; Whanganui: 3; Taranaki: 11; Tairawhiti: 0; Wairarapa: 2; Capital & Coast: 15; Hutt Valley: 13; Nelson Marlborough: 7; Canterbury: 41; West Coast: 3; South Canterbury: 6; Southern: 18.
• Weekly Covid-19 Hospitalisations - 7 day rolling average: 487 (This time last week 587.)
• Average age of current Covid-19hospitalisations: 64
• Cases in ICU or HDU: 7
• Vaccination status of new admissions to hospital*: Unvaccinated or not eligible (41 cases); partially immunised

*These are new hospital admissions in the past 7 days prior to yesterday who had Covid at the time of admission or while in hospital, excluding hospitalisations that were admitted and discharged within 24hrs. This data is from Districts with tertiary hospitals: Auckland, Canterbury/West Coast, Southern, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Capital & Coast/Hutt, Waitemata and Northland.

Covid-19 vaccinations administered

As signalled on Friday, vaccination data is no longer being published on Saturdays and Sundays. Instead, the data is being included in weekly reporting on the following Monday. This change is consistent with daily vaccination data which is currently updated on the Ministry website on weekdays (except public holidays).

Tests

• Number of PCR tests total (last 24 hours): 2,671
• Number of Rapid Antigen Tests reported total (last 24 hours): 4,938
• PCR tests rolling average (last 7 days): 3,239
• Number of Rapid Antigen Tests dispatched (last seven days as of 18 August 2022): 400,000

Covid-19 cases

• Total number of new community cases: 2,100
• Number of new cases that have recently travelled overseas: 116
• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 3,733
• Seven day rolling average of community cases (as at same day last week): 4,325
• Number of active cases (total): 26,124 (cases identified in the past seven days and not yet classified as recovered)
• Confirmed cases (total): 1,699,840
• New cases by District and other more detailed case information

Please note, the Ministry of Health's daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a District 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.

Covid-19 deaths

There are now a total of 1824 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. This is the number that will be reported to the World Health Organization as it provides the most accurate assessment of Covid-19related mortality in New Zealand.

In the past seven days there have been an average of 10 deaths confirmed each day as being attributable to Covid-19. This is a very sad time for whānau and friends of those who have died and our thoughts and condolences are with them.

Information on the number of new deaths of people with Covid-19 reported to the Ministry of Health in the last 24 hours, and the seven day rolling average, is available on the Ministry of Health website. This includes information on the age band and location of these newly reported deaths.

These newly reported deaths have not yet been categorised as to whether they are attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death, or as a contributing factor, or are unrelated to Covid-19. As this categorisation is made over coming days, the attributable deaths will be added to the total reported above.