Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Live - 2066 new Covid cases, 286 people in hospital, 3 in ICU

There are 2066 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today.

286 people are in hospital with the virus, including three in intensive care.

A further two Covid-related deaths have also been announced, both were in their 70s.

One was from the Auckland region, and one from Nelson Marlborough, both were women.

"This is a very sad time for whānau and friends of those who have died and our thoughts and condolences are with them," the ministry said in a statement

In the past seven days there have been an average of seven deaths confirmed each day as being attributable to the virus.

A total of 1908 deaths in New Zealand to date have been confirmed as attributable to Covid-19 either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor.

The rolling average of cases today is 2023, while last Thursday it was 3061.

The weekly average of hospitalisations today is 319, down on the average last week of 416.

The locations of the hospitalised cases are Northland (four), Waitematā (38), Counties Manukau (17), Auckland (48), Waikato (57), Bay of Plenty (nine), Lakes (nine), Hawke's Bay (seven), MidCentral (15), Taranaki (three), Wairarapa (six), Capital & Coast (17), Hutt Valley (four), Nelson Marlborough (four), Canterbury (36), West Coast (one), South Canterbury (six) and the Southern region (five).

The Omicron wave continues to recede with rates not seen since the start of the outbreak earlier this year.

The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations was 326, while a week ago it was 436.

New daily infections have also fallen, hovering at just over 2,100. A week ago there were 3303 cases a day.

The falling rate of infected people in hospital and intensive care was the lowest seen in more than six months.

Covid-19 has become a leading cause of death in New Zealand, but the seemingly simple question, "How many people have died of Covid-19?" doesn't have a simple answer, NZME newsroom's head of data Chris Knox explains.

The latest data gathered by the Herald shows that in the week ending on August 21, 56 deaths were attributable to Covid-19 and 96 people died with the virus.

A month prior, on the week ending on August 31, these figures peaked at 115 deaths attributable to Covid-19 and 227 deaths reported with the virus.

Covid deaths in New Zealand started to increase when Omicron first hit the country in February this year. They then spiked again over June and July when a second wave of the variant began to spread.

On average 627 people die each week in New Zealand - on the week ending on August 14, deaths with and attributable to Covid made up for nearly 30 per cent of the weekly death rate.

For the week ending on July 31, Covid deaths made up for nearly 40 per cent of the weekly death rate.

New Zealand now reports Covid-19 deaths using two separate but overlapping categories: the number of people who have died with Covid-19 and the number of people who have died of Covid-19.