There have been 11 more deaths of people with Covid-19, bringing the pandemic death toll up to 1,359 and the seven-day rolling average number of deaths to 13.
The latest deaths were all people over the age of 60, with one person from Northland, two from the Auckland region, one from Waikato, one from Hawke’s Bay, one from MidCentral, one from the Wellington region, two from Canterbury and two from Southern.
There are currently 368 people in hospital with Covid-19, including seven in intensive care.
Another 5,554 new community cases have been recorded nationwide, with Auckland registering the high of 1,659.
The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 5,777 – last Wednesday it was 6,035.
Meanwhile, health officials have issued a warning as the winter months prepare to bring an influx of new illnesses. “We’ve been planning for a challenging winter and are working with our regional colleagues to manage capacity and demand, prioritise urgent care and deliver as much planned care as possible,” said the Ministry of Health.
“We need everyone to do their bit to help us get through winter. We’d like to encourage everyone to get their flu vaccine this year, which can help protect against four different strains of the virus and reduce the need for hospitalisation.”