There are currently 64,912 active Covid cases in this country.
Hospital cases still increasing
Meanwhile there are 689 people in hospital with the virus, including 13 in intensive care.
The patients are being treated in Northland: 13; Waitematā: 137; Counties Manukau: 49; Auckland: 83; Waikato: 59; Bay of Plenty: 33; Lakes: 10; Hawke's Bay: 27; MidCentral: 28; Whanganui: 16; Taranaki: 13; Tairawhiti: 4; Wairarapa: 11; Capital & Coast/Hutt: 68; Nelson Marlborough: 12; Canterbury/West Coast: 77; South Canterbury: 20; Southern: 29.
The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations is 582 - up from 420 a week ago. The ministry said it was closely monitoring the increase in hospitalisations.
Rising hospital numbers underlined the importance of "everybody doing the basics well" to help New Zealand get through winter in good shape, they said.
"In particular, people should stay home if they are unwell, take a rapid antigen test (RAT) and upload the result on MyCovidRecord, and isolate if positive or while still symptomatic.
"And now is the time to ensure you are up to date with your Covid-19 vaccinations, including those who are eligible for a second booster dose, as well as having a flu vaccination, which is free for many people."
Yesterday there were 662 people fighting the virus in hospital, with 13 in intensive care, which health officials warned was a "significant increase". Hospitalisation numbers had risen by nearly 80 since Friday.
These figures were nearing the record levels seen back in March, when there were 1000 people fighting Covid-19 in hospital. Those numbers were dropping steadily to about 300 last month but have since shot back up.
There were 7461 community cases recorded yesterday and eight deaths reported yesterday. The seven-day rolling average was 8690.
Auckland University immunologist Anna Brook said this was alarming and the country was now at the most precarious point in the pandemic for New Zealand so far.
"I think it's not unexpected that human behaviours are now creeping in, we are all sick of this pandemic, we don't want to be restricted, we want to get back to normal life, but just wanting it to go away is not going to make it go away."
Brooks has urged Kiwis to keep up the fight against virus by wearing masks.
She also wanted the second booster shot to be made more widely available to help stop the virus' spread.
"We just need to come together as a country and say, 'Let's do this, let's get through winter. Mask up."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today she anticipated a "tough winter", with Covid cases spiking and winter illnesses putting pressure on the health system.
She said she has never stopped caring about Covid and has never stopped receiving the case numbers.
The increase in cases was predicted and is also being seen all over the world.
"We anticipated we would have additional variants, and winter would be difficult ... in the UK and Europe they are also seeing an increase of cases of up to 30 per cent, and that's at a time without winter, so they are looking to us to see what to expect," Ardern told TVNZ.
New Zealand had a raft of measures other countries did not have – for example, mandatory mask wearing and both positive cases and their household contacts isolating if they were sick.
However, that only worked if people played ball, she said.
"Not everyone is following through on those."
Ardern reminded people that even if they have caught Covid they can catch it again and urged anyone symptomatic to take a test.
Yesterday, the Ministry of Health said there had been a significant increase in the number of Covid-related hospitalisations this weekend.
"We know there will also be increased demand for primary and community care services as Covid-19 cases increase," the ministry said.
