Seven more people have died with Covid-19 today, the Ministry of Health has reported. This is in addition to the seven deaths reported yesterday, which was the most in a single day since the pandemic began.

Three of the deaths occurred in the Auckland region, and one each in Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Wellington and Canterbury. One person who died was in their 50s, two in their 70s, two in their 80s and two in their 90s. Four were male and three female, said the ministry. This brings the total number of publicly reported Covid-19 related deaths to 105.

“This is another reminder that the omicron variant can still cause serious illness and/or death either directly or by its impact on other health conditions,” said the ministry. “Getting vaccinated and boosted will help to keep you out of hospital if you catch Covid-19 and could save your life.”

There are 853 people in hospital with Covid-19 today, 17 of those in ICU. This marks a decrease of three since yesterday in both hospitalisations and ICU admissions.

The daily case tally has also decreased, with 18,699 new community cases recorded today. This takes the total number of active cases in the community to 206,288.