Covid-19: 25 new community cases, Omicron cluster grows
There are 25 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today, including eight confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.
In a statement released this afternoon, the Ministry of Health said to date, there are 19 community cases of Covid-19 associated with the January Omicron Cluster. These cases are currently in isolation.
Of the eight new cases, two are in the Nelson/Tasman region and are contacts of existing cases and five are in Auckland linked to one of the reported family events.
There is an additional case in Palmerston North, a household contact who was already isolating and linked to the previously reported Palmerston North Omicron case.
"The number of cases and contacts are expected to grow given the highly transmissible nature of Omicron and as we learn more from case interviews," a Ministry of Health spokesperson said.
There are 10 cases of Covid-19 in hospital today - five in North Shore, two in Auckland, one in Middlemore, one in Rotorua and one in Northland. There are no cases in ICU or HDU.
The average age of those in hospital is 57.
