One of the people whose death was reported today was from the Wellington region, one person was from Bay of Plenty and three were from the Southern region.
One person was in their 70s, and four people were in their 80s.
"This is a very sad time for whānau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this time," the ministry said.
Today's community cases were in Northland (260), Auckland (3233), Waikato (696), Bay of Plenty (291), Lakes (175), Hawke's Bay (303), MidCentral (281), Whanganui (124), Taranaki (265), Tairāwhiti (82), Wairarapa (83), Capital and Coast (595), Hutt Valley (250), Nelson Marlborough (265), Canterbury (1317), South Canterbury (130), Southern (637) and the West Coast (103).
The location of one case is unknown. Meanwhile, there are 90 new imported cases.
Imported cases are people who have arrived from overseas and are most likely isolating in the community.
The ministry announced this week "border cases" would now be classed as "imported cases".
In the community, there are 55,852 active cases.
There are 411 people with Covid-19 in hospitals across Aotearoa. They are in: Northland (10), Waitematā (50), Counties Manukau (49), Auckland (96), Waikato (30), Bay of Plenty (10), Lakes (two), Tairāwhiti: (two), Hawke's Bay (14), Taranaki (14), Whanganui (one), MidCentral (15), Hutt Valley (seven), Capital and Coast (20), Nelson Marlborough (six), Canterbury (48), South Canterbury (10), West Coast (two) and Southern (25).
The average age of people in hospitals in the northern region (Northland and Auckland) is 60.
The vaccination statuses of cases hospitalised in the Northern region (excluding emergency departments) are:
• Unvaccinated or not eligible: 33 cases / 13 per cent
• Partially immunised <7 days from second dose or have only received one dose: Eight cases / 3 per cent
• Double vaccinated at least seven days before being reported as a case: 61 cases / 24 per cent
• Received booster at least seven days before being reported as a case: 149 cases / 58 per cent
• Unknown: Five cases/ 2 per cent
To date, 95.2 per cent of eligible New Zealanders aged 12 and older have had two doses of Covid-19 vaccine and 70.7 per cent of those eligible for a booster have had it. For Māori, 88.3 per cent have been double dosed and 53.8 per cent boosted. For Pacific peoples, these figures are 96.7 per cent and 56.5 per cent, respectively.
Almost 25 per cent of children, aged 5-11, have had two doses. For Māori and Pacific children, the double-dosed figure is 11.8 per cent and 14.1 per cent, respectively.
Yesterday's numbers
The latest update follows a grim milestone yesterday when the number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 passed 1000.
The 32 deaths reported yesterday included people who have died over the previous six weeks, since April 5.
Of the people whose deaths were reported, two were from Northland, nine from the Auckland region, two from Bay of Plenty, two from Taranaki, one from Tairawhiti, four from MidCentral, two from Hawke's Bay, three from the Wellington region, one from Nelson-Marlborough, four from Canterbury and two from the Southern region.
One person was in their 20s, four people were in their 40s, two in their 50s, four in their 60s, nine in their 70s, nine in their 80s and three were aged over 90.
Of these people, 10 were women and 22 were men.
There were 425 people in hospital, including nine in intensive care.
