Covid 19 Omicron: Northland cases continue to fall - 174 today

The Ministry of Health says Covid vaccinations and testing is the best way of stopping the spread of the virus, with 174 new cases reported in Northland today.

New Covid 19 cases continue to fall in Northland, and nationally, with 174 new cases reported in the region today.

The Ministry of Health today reported 5,690 community cases, 514 hospitalisations and 10 deaths.

Of the deaths we are reporting today, one person was from the Auckland region; one from Counties Manukau; two from Waikato; one from Hawkes Bay; one from MidCentral; one from Whanganui; one from the Wairarapa; one from Canterbury; and one from Southern.

One person was in their 40s; one was in their 60s; two were in their 70s; five were in their 80s and one person was over 90. Three were male and seven were female.

In Northland there were 174 new cases reported in the 24 hours to 9am today, with 43 people in hospital with the virus in the region.

''Vaccination remains our best defence against Covid 19 and a booster, in addition to first and second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, will give you greater immunity against Omicron and severe illness. There is a much lower risk of being hospitalised if you are up to date with your vaccinations, which, for Omicron, includes a third or booster dose if eligible,'' the Ministry of Health said.

In Northland 90.1 per cent of eligible people have had their first dose; 88 per cent their second dose and 69.4 per cent have had boosters.

For Northland Covid testing/vaccination and RATs centre details of locations and opening hours go to:

For Covid-19 testing locations, visit https://www.northlanddhb.org.nz/.../northland-testing.../

For Covid-19 RATs collection sites, visit https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/covid-19/northland/...

For Covid-19 vaccination locations, visit https://www.northlanddhb.org.nz/.../northland.../