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National | Ministry of Health

More border cases than community cases reported today

For the first time in the Delta outbreak border cases have surpassed community cases with the Ministry of Health has reported 43 cases detected at the border and 19 new community cases of Covid-19 today.

The ministry says that the jump from yesterday's 23 border cases could indicate that today's border cases are of the Omicron variant, with whole-genome sequencing to be confirmed soon.

The Delta outbreak total now reached 11,022 with active cases now at 1,081.

For the new community cases, six are in Auckland, five each in Waikato and Bay of Plenty, one in Northland and two reported yesterday in Taranaki that are included in today's tally.

An additional Taranaki case is being reported but will be included in tomorrow's tally. The ministry says this is a household contact of a previous case and is linked to the Eltham cluster. The case has been in isolation across the festive period.

In the Waikato, two of the new cases are in Coromandel, one in Tairua, one in Hamilton and the other with location pending confirmation. Three have been linked to previous cases and the remaining two under investigation. Public Health, primary care and manaaki providers are supporting 50 cases to isolate at home in the region.

For the Bay of Plenty, three of the new cases are in Tauranga and two are in the Western Bay of Plenty. All cases are contacts of previously notified cases. There is one case to report in Taupō, which is still being investigated for potential links.

Hospitalisations for Covid-19 have dropped to 38 today. Five are in North Shore, 14 in Auckland, 15 in Middlemore and four in Tauranga hospitals. Four people are in ICU, with two each in Middlemore and two in Tauranga.