Wednesday May 4

A person under the age of 19 is one of 24 people who have died with the virus. 

There are 8,454 new cases of Covid-19 today. 

Of these cases there are 222 in Northland, 2,568 in Auckland, 501 in Waikato, 256 in Bay of Plenty, 142 in Lakes, 278 in Hawke’s Bay, 308 in MidCentral, 102 in Whanganui, 254 in Taranaki, 79 in Tairāwhiti, 112 in Wairarapa, 614 in Capital and Coast, 231 in Hutt Valley, 281 in Nelson Marlborough, 1,418 in Canterbury, 106 in South Canterbury, 900 in Southern, 85 in West Coast, 6 in unknown locations. 

There are currently 54,210 active cases in the community. 

The Ministry of Health defines active cases as those identified in the last seven days and not yet classified as recovered.

Today’s seven-day rolling average of case numbers is 7,746 – last Wednesday it was 7,884.

Since the pandemic started, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases is 957,799.

Hospitalisations and Covid-19 related deaths

24 people with Covid-19 have died, bringing the total to date to 801. 

The deaths being reported today include 12 people who have died over the past three days and an additional 12 people who have died since 5 March.

Of the people whose deaths we are reporting today, nine people were from Auckland, four from Waikato, two from Bay of Plenty, one from Whanganui, one from MidCentral, two from the Greater Wellington region, three from Canterbury and two from Southern.

One person was under 10, one was between 10 and 19-years-old, two were in their 40s, one in their 50s, two in their 60s, nine in their 70s, five in their 80s and three were aged over 90.

Of these people, seven were female and 17 were male.

The 7-day rolling average of reported deaths is 13.

There are 481 people in hospital, with 14 of those people in intensive care or high dependency units.

The average age of people currently in hospital is 58.

Vaccinations 

96.4 percent of New Zealand's eligible population have had the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 95.2 percent have had a second dose.

70.9 percent of eligible people have had their booster shot.

Testing 

The number of PCR tests taken over the past 24 hours is 3,918 and the number of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) that have been reported in the past 24 hours is 18,053.

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. 

Top image: Woman wearing mask, waiting for public transport. Photo: Getty Images

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