Covid-19: 62 new community cases and one further death
There are 62 new community cases of Covid-19 and one further death reported in New Zealand today.
In a statement, the Ministry said a patient in their 50s who was admitted to hospital on 11 December has passed away.
“Our thoughts are with their whānau and friends at this sad time,” the Ministry said.
Forty-five people are in hospital including eight in intensive care or high dependency units.
Today's new cases were in Auckland (37), Waikato (5), Bay of Plenty (14) and Rotorua (5).
There was also one new case reported in Christchurch today and public health officials are investigating recent travel to Auckland as the source of their infection.
The case travelled from Auckland to Christchurch on Monday, December 20 on Air NZ Flight NZ543.
"All passengers on the flight are being treated as close contacts and are required to get tested. Contact tracing is underway to contact all passengers."
All of the Waikato cases are in Te Kūiti, while seven of the 14 new cases in the Western Bay of Plenty today have been linked to existing cases.
There were also 10 cases reported at the border, with travellers from the UK, US, Greece, UAE, Australia, Germany, Kenya and India testing positive.
