The Ministry of Health is reporting eight more Covid-related deaths today, the highest daily total in the pandemic so far. This follows seven deaths yesterday and another seven the day before.

Six of the deaths were in the Auckland, one in Waikato and one in Lakes. Three of the people who died were in their 60s, one in their 70s, one in their 80s and three in their 90s. Two were male and six were female. Today’s deaths take the total number of publicly reported Covid-related deaths to 113.

“We know the omicron variant can cause serious illness and death either directly or by its impact on other health conditions, particularly for our older and more vulnerable New Zealanders,” said the Ministry of Health in a statement. “Getting vaccinated and boosted will help reduce your risk of severe Covid-19 illness and could save your life.”

There are 896 people in hospital with Covid today, 18 of whom are in ICU.

Case numbers have continued to fall, with 14,494 in the community today. The decrease in case numbers has been most pronounced in Auckland, said the ministry, “where reported case numbers have fallen steadily this week from just under 10,000 reported cases on 8 March to just over 4,500 today”.

The ministry pointed out, however, that the seven-day rolling average of cases, which provides a useful guide to the trend in case numbers, has only dipped slightly from yesterday, at 19,771.