An elderly Covid-19 patient has died in hospital in Auckland, the second in two days.
The patient, who was in their 80s, was admitted to North Shore Hospital on Thursday and passed away Saturday evening, the ministry said in a statement.
Yesterday, the ministry reported the death of a patient with Covid-19 at Auckland City Hospital. The patient was also aged in their 80s.
There are 82 patients currently in hospital with Covid-19. Fourteen are in North Shore, 32 in Middlemore, 31 in Auckland, four in Waikato and one in Rotorua. Nine patients are receiving intensive care or high dependency unit support - eight in Auckland and one in Lakes.
Today, there are new community cases in Auckland (127), Northland (2) Waikato (9), Bay of Plenty (4) and Hawke’s Bay (1). The 144 new cases bring the total number of cases throughout this current community outbreak to 8,118.
Hawke's Bay
Hawke's Bay DHB confirmed a community Covid-19 case last night.
The ministry says the person tested positive for Covid-19 as part of routine surveillance swabbing when they visited Hawke's Bay Hospital's Emergency Department after feeling unwell. The person and close household contacts are now isolating.
Northland
The two cases in Ruakaka, announced yesterday, are being formally included in today's figure for Northland. However, the ministry says there are also two further Northland cases reported after today's 9am cut-off that will be officially added to the case numbers tomorrow. These new cases are in Kaitaia and Whangārei.
"The Kaitaia case is a close contact of a known case and links between the Whangārei cases and known cases are still being investigated."
Both are self-isolating at home.
Waikato
There were nine new cases confirmed in the Waikato overnight, five in Hamilton, two in Te Kūiti, one in Cambridge, one in Kawhia. "All are pending investigation for links today."
The ministry says public health staff are currently supporting 115 Waikato cases to isolate at home.
Bay of Plenty
There are four new cases in Bay of Plenty. One case is based in the Whakatāne district and three are in the Tauranga area.
"The Whakatāne district case and one of the Tauranga cases are linked to previously reported cases. The remaining two Tauranga area cases are household contacts, with their links to previously reported cases still being investigated."
All four cases are self-isolating at home.