New Zealand reports 33,193 new community cases of COVID-19, 15 deaths during weekend
This included 18,699 cases on Saturday and 14,494 cases on Sunday. There continues to be a drop in overall case numbers, with the trend most pronounced in the biggest city Auckland, where reported case numbers have fallen steadily this week from just under 10,000 cases on Tuesday to just over 4,500 on Sunday, said the ministry.
Among the 14,494 new community infections reported on Sunday, 4,509 were in the largest city Auckland. But the cases continue to spread across New Zealand, such as the capital city Wellington and the biggest city in South Island Christchurch.
In addition, 38 new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the New Zealand border over the weekend, said the ministry.
On Sunday, there were 896 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including 18 people in intensive care units or high dependency units.
Of the deaths cases, nine occurred in the Auckland region, one each in Waikato, the Lakes, Bay of Plenty, MidCentral, Wellington and Canterbury. The total number of publicly reported COVID-19 related deaths in New Zealand to date is 113.
New Zealand has reported 361,108 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
New Zealand is currently at the highest Red settings under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments and gatherings are limited to 100 people.