Sunday, January 2

There have been 105 new cases of Covid-19 over the last two days. The Ministry of Health did not release numbers on New Years Day (January 1) so today's numbers include yesterday and today. 

There have been two deaths at Auckland hospital in the last 48 hours. 

There are no new Omicron community cases to report. 

Of today's new cases, 71 are in Auckland, 7 in Waikato, 22 in the Bay of Plenty, 4 in the Lakes area and 1 in Hawke's Bay.

The Hawke's Bay case was first announced on Friday after the reporting cut-off but included in today's figures. 

There are 43 people in hospital, with 5 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.

The average age of people currently in hospital is 54.

94 percent of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 92 percent have had a second dose.

There have been 4,619,238 vaccine pass downloads, including 20,034 in the last 24 hours.

From January 5, the gap between second vaccine dose and the booster reduces from six months to four months. This means anyone over the age of 18 who received their second vaccination at least four months ago can get the booster shot. 

"Speeding up the booster rollout is a key part of our response to Omicron," said Director General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield in a statement.

Children aged between five and 11 years can get vaccinated from January 17. 

Click here for a list of updated locations of interest.


Top image: Scanning in at the Longroom in Ponsonby, Auckland. Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images

More stories: 

100 years of New Zealand summer: In photos

How do I pick a good partner for losing my virginity | Horny on Main

Stop crushing your cans, you're sending them to landfill