In Auckland, there are now 3200 people isolating at home, including 843 Covid cases.
There are 10 new cases in the Waikato including three in Te Kūiti, two in Ōtorohanga, two in Huntly, two in Tokoroa and one in Hamilton.
One of today's cases has been formally linked to previous cases and the remainder is under investigation to confirm links.
All eight of the new Bay of Plenty cases are in Tauranga and are linked to existing cases.
Active Nelson cases now total 20
In Nelson-Tasman there is one new case in addition to the four cases announced yesterday after the official reporting cut-off period.
The new case is linked to a known school exposure event.
"There are now 20 active cases in the Nelson area. Investigations into the source of infections are ongoing," the ministry said.
"Public health officials continue to manage several hundred contacts associated with exposures at two schools in Nelson."
There is one new Taranaki case is in New Plymouth and is a household contact of a current case. The person has been in isolation since last week.
66 patients in hospital
A total of 66 people are in hospital, including seven in ICU.
There is also a border case currently under investigation in the Southern DHB area.
The traveller returned an initial weak positive test and a second test has returned a negative result.
One location of interest linked to this case has been released out of an abundance of caution, the MoH said.
Meanwhile the Southern DHB has become the fifth in New Zealand to be 90 per cent fully vaccinated.
Nationwide 93 per cent of eligible Kiwis have had their first dose and 88 per cent are fully vaccinated, the ministry said.
Earlier today it was revealed a Covid case visited a Fiordland National Park hut at the weekend.
A Department of Conservation hut in the South Island's Fiordland National Park has been identified as a high-risk Covid exposure site.
An infected person had arrived at the hut on Saturday at 7pm and left the following morning at 8am. Everyone in the hut at the same time has been deemed a close contact.
The Ministry of Health is advising anyone who stayed overnight on Saturday in the Green Lake Hut to self-isolate and get tested immediately.
Officials regard the remote wilderness setting as a high-risk for anyone in the same venue, the latest locations of interest show.
Also today another Covid case has been confirmed in Nelson - a second staff member at Enner Glynn School has tested positive.
In a post to Facebook, principal Isaac Day said they received confirmation from the Medical Officer of Health about the new case.
The staff member is considered to have been infectious from December 4, it said.
The virus has reached several parts of the South Island with four new cases emerging in Nelson-Marlborough yesterday and two more appearing in Canterbury.
There were also 125 cases in Auckland and eight in Waikato.
The majority of these were in Te Kuiti, causing concern for Waitomo mayor John Robertson who fears it will continue to spread in the rural community.
Yesterday, 76 people were in hospital with the virus including seven people in ICU or HDU.
The geographical areas of those in hospital has moved from just being in Auckland. As well 14 patients in Waitemata, 31 in Auckland, 26 in Counties Manukau, there were two being treated in Waikato, two in Bay of Plenty and two in Nelson-Marlborough.
Director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield yesterday called for more people to get tested in Gisborne after a positive wastewater result there. So far this outbreak there have been no cases confirmed in that area, which has among the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also reassured Kiwis that she had no plans to cancel summer by putting the country into lockdown and was instead confident the new traffic light system offered enough protections.
"We are not asking people to stay home. We are asking people to follow the rules."
Officials were not supporting calls for people to stay away from certain areas such as Northland, she said.
Once the Auckland border lifts next week, people travelling in and out of the city are required to either be double vaccinated or return a negative test.
