A further five Omicron cases have been detected in international arrivals, the Ministry of Health says. A total of 13 cases have now been identified at the border, up from eight on Saturday.
The ministry says four of these cases remain in managed isolation and one case has now recovered and been released.
"The recovered case arrived from London via Singapore on 7 December. This case tested positive to Covid-19 at day 0/1 and was accordingly closely managed in MIQ. They were never in the community while infectious.
"As an added precaution, 30 other passengers on their flight are regarded as close contacts. To date, 27 of these passengers have completed day 9 tests and returned negative results – testing is underway for the remaining three."
Māori Vaccinations
MidCentral and Hutt Valley have now reached 90 per cent first doses for Māori, becoming the fourth and fifth DHB areas to achieve this milestone, the ministry says.
Eighty-seven per cent of eligible Māori across Aotearoa have now received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and 77 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Today's community cases
There are 55 new cases today, across Auckland (41), Waikato (4), Bay of Plenty (3) and Taranaki (7) regions, the ministry reports.
1,928 people are currently being supported across Auckland to isolate at home, including 530 cases, the ministry says.
Three of the new Waikato cases are in Te Kūiti and one is in Tokoroa. All but one of these cases has been linked to previous cases. The other case remains under investigation.
Health and welfare providers are supporting 63 Waikato cases to isolate at home and two cases are receiving care at Waikato Hospital, the ministry says.
Today's three new Bay of Plenty cases are all in Tauranga and are linked to previous cases.
Four of Taranaki's seven new cases are linked to the Eltham cluster, and two are linked to the New Plymouth case.
Although the other case has a permanent Taranaki address, the ministry says that case will be officially transferred to Auckland’s case numbers as they reside there for work purposes.
Taranaki DHB says of the six local cases reported today, two are adults and four are school-aged children.
In a statement, Gillian Campbell, the DHB's Covid-19 response general manager, says the increase in Taranaki case numbers is an important reminder for the community to remain vigilant.
“We ask people to remember all the health protocols they’ve learnt since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak; wear a face covering, especially if you can’t social distance, scan everywhere you go, continue to sanitise or wash your hands, stay home if you’re unwell, and most importantly get tested if you have any symptoms," Campbell says.
“We are really grateful for people in the community with symptoms who have done the right thing and come forward for testing.”
“Modelling carried out by the Public Health Unit shows that the extent of an outbreak is related to how quickly infectious people are identified and go into isolation.”
Hospital
Fifty-six people are in hospital with Covid-19 today, the ministry says. Ten are in North Shore, 26 in Auckland, 15 in Middlemore, two in Waikato and three in Tauranga. The average age of these patients is 53.
Six people require intensive care or high dependency unit support - one in North Shore, two in Auckland, two in Middlemore and one in Waikato.
The ministry - providing figures for the Northern Region wards only - says 53 per cent (25 cases) are unvaccinated or not eligible, 13 per cent (6 cases) are partially immunised, and 26 per cent (12 cases) are fully vaccinated. The status of nine per cent (4 cases) is unknown.
