Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield has confirmed there are 215 new Covid-19 community cases, taking the outbreak total to 7,484.
Meanwhile Māori vaccination rates are now at 80% first dose (455,625) and 65% second dose (371,863).
There were 18,880 first and second vaccine doses administered yesterday, made up of 6,496 first doses and 12,384 second doses. To date, 92% of eligible people in New Zealand have had their first dose and 84% are fully vaccinated.
Of these, 181 are in Auckland, 18 in Waikato, three in Northland, 12 in Bay of Plenty and one in Canterbury deemed to be historical. The lone Canterbury case was a close contact of a previously reported case and is no longer considered infectious.
In the Bay of Plenty, six of the cases are known close contacts and were already in isolation. Interviews with three of the cases are underway to determine the source of their infection, which includes a case in Eastern Bay of Plenty.
More testing
In response to the detection of the case in Eastern Bay of Plenty, the ministry says additional testing is being made available at the Waimana Club Rooms from 1pm today until late.
Testing will also be available from the Whakatāne War Memorial tomorrow from 9am-4pm. Further information on testing in the region will be updated on the Bay of Plenty District Health Board Facebook page.
In Northland, two of the new cases are in Kaitaia (one unlinked) and one in Whangārei. The Whangarei case and one of the Kaitaia cases are close contacts of existing cases and were already isolating.
Of today's new cases 97 are linked and the remaining 118 unlinked with investigations ongoing.
Meanwhile, 87 people are receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19, including three still being assessed. 21 are in North Shore, 27 in Middlemore, 37 in Auckland, one in Waikato and one in Rotorua hospitals. with eight people in intensive care units. The average of current hospitalisations is now at 46 years of age.
Of those in hospital, 47 people were not vaccinated, seven cases were partially vaccinated for under 14 days, seven cases for partially vaccinated cases for more than 14 days and 15 cases were fully vaccinated for more than 14 days. Six cases are unknown.
The ministry is now reporting the vaccination status of those who have died with Covid-19 in the Delta outbreak. The numbers will be published on the Ministry of Health website and updated as privacy considerations allow.
The ministry says there is sometimes a lag between the deaths being reported publicly and their inclusion in the Ministry of Health’s official numbers. Of the 15 deaths recorded by the Ministry of Health in the outbreak to date, the ministry reports that 10 were unvaccinated, two had one dose less than 14 days before they contracted Covid-19 and three were fully vaccinated (at least 14 days prior to contracting Covid-19).