Sunday March 20
There are 12,020 new cases of Covid-19 today.
Of these, 416 are in Northland, 2,768 are in Auckland, 1,093 in Waikato, 804 in Bay of Plenty, 330 in the Lakes district, 676 in Hawke's Bay, 540 in MidCentral, 169 in Whanganui, 373 in Taranaki, 210 in Tairāwhiti, 146 in Wairarapa, 795 in Capital and Coast, 443 in the Hutt Valley, 308 in Nelson Marlborough, 1,897 in Canterbury, 217 in South Canterbury, 840 in Southern, 22 in the West Coast and 9 in unknown locations.
This brings the total number of active cases to 120,942.
The Ministry of Health defines active cases as those identified in the last 10 days and not yet classified as recovered.
Travellers from Samoa
Travellers from Samoa to New Zealand on four specific flights over coming weeks are now required to complete two Rapid Antigen Tests after they arrive, the first on Day 0/1 (within 36 hours of arriving) and the second on Day 5/6 (between 120 and 144 hours after arriving). They will be issued testing kits on arrival.
This follows the identification of Covid-19 community transmission in Samoa on Thursday. Yesterday 95 cases were reported in Samoa and the country is now in an Alert Level 3 lockdown.
Travellers from Samoa are still eligible to enter New Zealand without going into quarantine, provided those on the four flights undergo the two tests and report their results either by an automated email survey or by calling 0800 432 010. This requirement does not apply to aircrew.
The four flights are:
- 19 March flight NZ993 to Auckland (already arrived)
- 22 March flight NZ993 to Auckland
- 29 March flight NZ993 to Auckland
- 10 April flight NZ993 to Auckland
Hospitalisations and Covid-19 deaths
9 people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the total to date to 175.
Of these nine people who have died, one was from Capital and Coast, four from Auckland, three from the Bay of Plenty and one from Waikato.
Two of these people were in their 50s, two in their 70s, four in their 80s and one in their 90s. Eight were male and one was female.
The Ministry of Health reports on deaths of all people who die within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
There are 957 people in hospital, with 26 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.
The average age of people currently in hospital is 58.
Testing
In the last 24 hours, there have been 2,550 PCR tests and 26,924 rapid antigen tests taken.
The seven-day rolling average of PCR tests taken is 3,857.
If you take a RAT you must report the result, positive or negative. This can be done online through My Covid Record, or by calling 0800 222 478 between 8am and 8pm.
Vaccinations
96.3 percent of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 95 percent have had a second dose.
72.8 percent of the eligible population have had a booster shot.
Click here for a list of updated locations of interest.
Top image: A Father fitting his daughter's face mask. Photo: Catherine Delahaye/Getty Images
More stories:
Covid update March 19: 18,514 new cases