And the seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations is 594, compared to 703 a week ago.
The ministry announced there were 17 deaths attributable to Covid-19. The total number of people whose deaths are confirmed as attributable to Covid-19 is 1750. Attributable means Covid-19 was either the underlying cause or a contributing factor.
The seven-day rolling average in total deaths attributable to Covid-19 in New Zealand is 14.
A further 10 deaths were listed as amongst people who Covid-19 was an underlying caused.
"Of the 27 people whose deaths we are reporting today: one was from Northland, seven were from Auckland region, two were from Waikato, two were from Lakes, three were from Hawke's Bay, two were from Taranaki, three were from MidCentral, two were from Whanganui, one was from Wellington region, three were from Canterbury, one was from Southern.
"Three were in their 50s, two were in their 60s, seven were in their 70s, 12 were in their 80s and three were aged over 90. Of these people, 16 were women and 11 were men."
Of those admitted to Auckland, Canterbury/West Coast, Southern, Counties Manukau, Waikato, Capital & Coast/Hutt, Waitematā and Northland hospitals with Covid-19, 49 were unvaccinated or not eligible, three were partially immunised, 75 were double-vaccinated and 289 were boosted.
The average age of those in hospitals nationwide with Covid-19 is 62.
Auckland, Waikato and Canterbury hospitals have the highest number of people in hospital with the virus.
There are 68 in Waitematā hospitals, 57 in Counties Manukau and 58 in Auckland, along with 60 in Waikato and 85 in Canterbury.
The remaining patients are in: Northland: 28; Bay of Plenty: 19; Lakes: 9; Hawke's Bay: 39; MidCentral: 12; Whanganui: 8; Taranaki: 9; Tairawhiti: 1; Wairarapa: 13; Capital & Coast: 20; Hutt Valley: 9; Nelson Marlborough: 8; West Coast: 1; South Canterbury: 14 and Southern: 28.
There were 8802 rapid antigen test results reported in the last 24 hours, and 3288 PCR tests.
New cases today include 92 people who had recently travelled overseas.
The latest cases take the number of active cases in New Zealand to just under 31,000, the lowest since the highly infectious Omicron variant arrived in the country seven months ago, sparking a major outbreak which skyrocketed total cases here from a couple of thousand to the current more than 1.66 million.
At least 280,000 are known to have fallen ill with Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5 this winter, Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) genomic surveillance showed.
The real number is likely higher due to under-reporting of cases and any sampling errors.
As well as falling daily case numbers, wastewater monitoring also showed fewer people were being infected.
For the third week in a row, detections of Covid in wastewater fell.
Meanwhile, vaccinations are continuing, with tiny numbers showing up for initial doses now.
There were 19 first, 30 second and 12 third primary doses given to over-12s yesterday.
Booster doses made up most of the jabs yesterday, with 509 first boosters and 8213 second boosters given.
Just over 160 kids aged 5 to 11 also received a vaccination yesterday - 28 their first dose and 136 their second.
The latest ESR genomics dashboard yesterday shows BA.5 continues to be the dominant variant, making up 86 per cent of cases in the most recent reporting week.
A small number of BA.2.75 variants are still being detected, and monitoring would begin for a new BA.4.6 strain which was on the rise overseas.
