There are 810 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, the Ministry of Health has announced.

“The sharp increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries,” said the ministry in a statement.

Auckland remains the epicentre of the outbreak, with 623 new cases recorded there. There are 13 new cases in Northland, 81 in Waikato, 11 in Bay of Plenty, 11 in Lakes, eight in Hawke’s Bay, three in MidCentral, six in Whanganui, five in Taranaki, three in Tairāwhiti, 15 in Wellington, 10 in the Hutt Valley, two in Nelson Marlborough, three in Canterbury, two in South Canterbury and 14 in Southern.

Yesterday, 22,196 tests were processed.

There are 32 Covid cases in hospital, 30 of whom have active infections. One is in Whangārei hospital, four are in North Shore, eight are in Middlemore, 15 are in Auckland, one is in Tauranga, one is in Rotorua, one is in Wellington and one is in Christchurch.

There are 18 new cases at the border.

Responding to rumours of positive cases at the protest currently happening at parliament, Wellington’s regional public health unit has confirmed there are currently no notified positive cases linked to the protest. “However, we encourage everyone to be vigilant and to get a test if they become unwell with symptoms of Covid-19.”

For more visualised data about the Covid-19 pandemic, check out The Spinoff’s Covid tracker