Case numbers have jumped back up over 20,000 cases, with 23,894 new cases being reported by Public Health director Dr Caroline McElnay at today's 1pm media stand up.
The Ministry of Health says some people with Covid-19 are taking rapid antigen tests to return a negative result so they can leave isolation. But it says those who test positive and their household contacts need to isolate, and that it's unnecessary to return a negative test once their isolation period is over to return to work or school.
Some people may continue to test positive on a RAT for some time, even once they are past their infectious stage or have recovered, the ministry says. This does not extend to those household contacts covered by the Close Contact Exemption Scheme who are able to continue going to work during their isolation period, so long as they return a negative test before work each day.
New case info
Of today's new cases, 596 are from PCR tests and 23,298 are from positive RAT results.
There are 718 in Northland, 9,881 in Auckland, 2,146 in Waikato, 1,691 in Bay of Plenty, 660 in Lakes, 707 in Hawke's Bay, 632 in Mid Central, 166 in Whanganui, 525 in Taranaki, 366 in Tairāwhiti, 136 in Wairarapa, 1,787 in Capital and Coast, 1,061 in Hutt Valley, 435 in Nelson-Marlborough, 1,903 in Canterbury, 129 in South Canterbury, 914 in Southern and 30 in West Coast regions. Only seven cases are of unknown location.
There are 19 cases detected at the border
There are 757 people with Covid-19 receiving hospital-level care. Eight are in Northland, 146 in North Shore, 191 in Middlemore, 196 in Auckland, 570 in Waikato, 25 in Bay of Plenty, seven in Rotorua, 10 in Hawke's Bay, four in Taranaki, 17 in Mid Central. three in Whanganui, five in Wairarapa, 13in Hutt Valley, 33 in Capital and Coast, four in Nelson-Marlborough, 17 in Canterbury, and eight in Southland/Otago. Some 16 people are in intensive care units.
There were also 265 first doses, 609 second doses, 41 third primary doses, 10,450 booster doses, 608 paediatric first doses, and 310 administered across the country yesterday.