There have been 34,528 new cases of Covid-19 and 23 deaths of people with the virus over the past week, the Ministry of Health says.

As of Sunday midnight, 418 cases were hospitalised and 10 were in intensive care.

The seven-day rolling average of new cases is 4926, compared with 3863 the previous week.

Last week, immunologist Dr Anthony Jordan said it was important for people to plan ahead and be prepared in case they caught Covid-19 over the Christmas break.

Te Pūnaha Matatini physicist and contagion modeller Dr Dion O'Neale says Christmas gatherings and social events over the next few weeks would bring increased opportunities for the virus to spread, but the summer holidays which followed could help to bring case numbers down since people were not at work or school.

Last week, the Ministry of Health reported 27,076 new Covid-19 cases and 58 deaths.

-RNZ.