Today the seven-day rolling average is 6924. Last Saturday it was 7972.
Most of today's new deaths - five - were in Auckland. There were two each in the Wellington and Canterbury district health board areas, and one each in Bay of Plenty, Nelson Marlborough, South Canterbury and Southern.
Two of those who died were their 60s, five were in their 70s, three were in their 80s and three were aged over 90. Eight were men and five were women.
"This is a very sad time for whānau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them", the ministry said.
There are 48,452 people with Covid-19 in New Zealand.
More than 1.13 million are known to have tested positive for the virus in New Zealand since the pandemic began.
Auckland continues to have the highest number of new community cases: 2068.
Other new cases are in Northland (166), Waikato (480), Bay of Plenty (160), Lakes (125), Hawke's Bay (173), MidCentral (199), Whanganui (74), Taranaki (215), Tairāwhiti (32), Wairarapa (59), Capital and Coast (512), Hutt Valley (193), Nelson Marlborough (269), Canterbury (981), South Canterbury (135), Southern (452) and West Coast (70).
The location of six cases is not known. There are also 55 new cases at the border.
New Zealanders have reported the results of 12,887 rapid antigen tests in the past 24 hours, and 3986 PCR tests were also done over the same period.
Most hospitalisations are in the Auckland region. There are 34 people in Waitematā hospitals, 65 in Auckland and 31 in Counties Manukau.
Other hospitalisations are in Northland (11), Waikato (20), Bay of Plenty (3), Lakes (5), Tairāwhiti (3), Hawke's Bay (20), Taranaki (5), Whanganui (3), MidCentral (13), Hutt Valley (5), Capital and Coast (33), Nelson Marlborough (8), Canterbury (54), South Canterbury (11), West Coast (1) and Southern (35).
Hospitalisation numbers in Wairarapa haven't been available for two days, when two people were in hospital with the virus.
The average age of those with Covid-19 in Northland and Auckland hospitals is 58.
Average age figures for those hospitalised in other parts of the country isn't available, the ministry said.
Of those in Northland and Auckland hospitals, and excluding the emergency department, 14 per cent are unvaccinated or ineligible, 3 per cent are partially vaccinated, 23 per cent are double-vaccinated and 56 per cent are boosted.
The vaccination status of 4 per cent of those in hospital isn't known.
Vaccinations also continue for a small number of people.
There were 33 first doses, 40 second doses, 23 third primary doses and 964 booster doses given to over-12s yesterday.
There were also 53 first doses and 250 second doses given to children aged between 5 and 11.
There are now 95.2 per cent of Kiwis aged over 12 double-dosed and 70.6 per cent of those eligible have also had their booster.
The vaccination rate for 5 to 11-year-olds is 54.5 for the first dose and 25.3 per cent for the second dose. Children under 16 aren't eligible to receive a booster.
Vaccination rates for Māori continue to lag those of the overall population, with 88.3 per cent of over-12s double-dosed and only 53.4 per cent of those eligible having received their booster.
For tamariki Māori, 35.5 per cent have had one dose of the vaccine and 12.1 per cent two doses.
The vulnerability of some Kiwis to serious outcomes from Covid-19 infection this week prompted a move to offer a fourth vaccination to those most at risk.
The jab, which follows the initial recommended three-dose regime, could be give six months after the recipient's previous booster, the Ministry of Health's vaccination advisory group told Hipkins.
Older people, aged-care facility residents, disability care residents aged 16 and over, and severely immunocompromised people aged 16 and over could be eligible.
The vast majority of this targeted group would be able to get their second shot from July, Hipkins said.
It's thought hundreds of thousands of people will be eligible.
This week Omicron sub-variants with increased transmissibility, but not thought to cause more serious illness, were also detected in the community.
While most recently sequenced cases in New Zealand continued to be of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, the first community case of Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1 was discovered in Hawke's Bay this week, health officials said.
The case, which had no clear link to the border, was from a test result returned earlier this month.
Meanwhile, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield this week joined more than 528 million others around the world since early 2020 to test positive for Covid-19.
The health boss became unwell while in Switzerland for the World Health Assembly.
He has mild symptoms and is self-isolating in Geneva.
