Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 142 new community cases - 103 in Auckland - as infections grow across NZ

There are 142 new community cases of Covid-19 today, with Auckland experiencing a massive surge in daily case numbers.

The latest new community cases are in Northland (11), Auckland (103), Waikato (12), Lakes (2), Bay of Plenty (5), Taranaki (3), Hawke's Bay (1), Nelson Marlborough (2) and Canterbury (3).

At the same time 54 new cases have been detected at the border.

Six people are in hospital with Covid-19. One is at North Shore, three are in Middlemore, one is in Auckland and one person is in Waikato hospital. No one is in ICU or HDU.

Yesterday there were 126 community cases and 79 at the border. As the Omicron variant has now become the "dominant" strain, the ministry said it would no longer advise the case variant in its updates.

Auckland health and welfare providers are now supporting 1284 people to isolate at home, including 515 cases.

Of the 12 cases in Waikato, a number were unlinked and case investigations were under way to determine a source of exposure.

The two new Lakes cases are in Rotorua, the ministry said.

One is linked to a previous cases and the other was under investigation.

Three of the Bay of Plenty cases are linked to previous cases while investigations are ongoing for the remaining two.

All five cases are in Tauranga.

The one new case in Hawke's Bay is linked to a known cases and any associated locations of interest would be published on the Ministry of Health website.

The two new cases in Nelson Marlborough are linked to existing cases.

After data reconciliation, there are now nine total active cases in Canterbury, the health ministry said.

Sixty-nine per cent of those due for their Covid-19 booster have now had it with 38,332 booster doses administered yesterday.

The total number of booster doses give to date to is 1,362,811.

The Ministry of Health said as Omicron was in New Zealand, one of the best things the public could do was to get their booster as soon as it was due.

Boosters lowered your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised and helped slow the spread of the virus, it said.

"Evidence to date is that the rate of adverse reactions to a booster dose is similar to people receiving their second dose."

Meanwhile the government and health officials, including the Prime Minister, announced at 1.30pm that booster vaccines could now be taken at a gap of three months rather than four.

Jacinda Ardern was joined by Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins, Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Ministry of Health Chief Science advisor Ian Town.

As of yesterday, 68 per cent of those due for their booster had received it with 22,508 booster doses administered on Monday.

In the past week, there had been a 24 per cent increase in people getting boosted

There were 126 Covid-19 community cases yesterday - in Northland (5), Auckland (84), Waikato (20), Lakes (1), Bay of Plenty (8), Tairāwhiti (2), Taranaki (1), Hawke's Bay (2), Wellington (1), Nelson Marlborough (1), and Canterbury (1).

Yesterday, there were 79 cases at the border. The arrivals travelled from the Netherlands, UAE, US, UK, Australia, Turkey, India, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Pakistan, Iran, Ireland, Egypt, France, Lebanon, Serbia, Singapore and Fiji.

Eight people were in hospital across North Shore, Middlemore, Auckland and Waikato hospitals. The average age of those in hospital with the virus was 55.

Earlier in the week, Te Pūnaha Matatini modeller Dr Dion O'Neale said daily cases could jump to 200 by the middle of the week, then double to 400 by the weekend.

"Almost every other place in the world that's had an Omicron outbreak's seen a doubling time of around three days. We'd expect New Zealand to be similar."