"We are reflecting these changes in the update today, however, it's important to reinforce that we still have the key figures included here, and available online, including New Zealand's case numbers – by total, at the border, in the community and by DHB region. Vaccination results will also continue to be fully reported."
The ministry confirmed a Covid-19 case was identified in Queenstown this morning.
This is the first community case in the Southern DHB this outbreak and the case was notified after the ministry's cut-off period so would be added to official figures tomorrow, it said in a statement.
Investigations into any potential connections between this case and existing cases outside Southland were underway.
Those who live in Queenstown or visited the area recently are asked to regularly check the Ministry of Health's locations of interest webpage.
And anyone in the area who has cold or flu-like symptoms, even if they are mild and are vaccinated, or has been at a location of interest, should get tested.
The 12 cases in hospital with the virus were at North Shore, Middlemore, Auckland, Rotorua, Bay of Plenty and Christchurch hospitals.
The average age of those hospitalised with the virus is 55.
The ministry's statement today did not include the traditional breakdown of cases by region which had featured in previous statements.
The health ministry said changes had been made to the daily updates as case numbers increased but it would still include the key figures, such as the country's case numbers and vaccination results.
The Big Boost Week was now in full swing, the ministry said, with 56,257 booster doses administered across New Zealand yesterday, bringing the total so far to more than 1.7 million.
To date, 55 per cent of those who are due their booster have received it.
Ninety six per cent and 95 per cent of eligible people have received the first and second dose of Covid-19 vaccine respectively.
For eligible Māori aged 12 and older, 90 per cent have had their first dose and 86 per cent had received two.
For eligible Pacific peoples aged 12 and older, 97 per cent had received one dose and 95 per cent had received two.
Meanwhile, 43 per cent of eligible children aged 5-11 have received a dose of the paediatric Covid-19 vaccine.
For Māori children in this age cohort, 24 per cent had received one dose. Thirty-three per cent of eligible Pacific children in this group also had their first dose of the paediatric Covid-19 vaccine.
Thirty cases have been detected at the border, with the cases arriving from: UAE (6), Australia (1), Fiji (2), India (6), Lebanon (3), Malaysia (5), Pakistan (2), Papua New Guinea (1) and Qatar (2).
The full travel history of two travellers was yet to be obtained, the ministry said.
The seven-day rolling average for Covid-19 cases at the border is 35.
The seven-day rolling average for Covid-19 community cases is 215.
In the last 24 hours, 27,425 Covid-19 tests in total were administered.
The ministry said as Omicron cases continued to be identified in the country, it was important New Zealanders were as ready as they could be if they contracted the virus or came into contact with someone who had it.
"Make sure you have your personal plans ready, and follow the key public health advice of getting vaccinated, boosted, tested (if you're symptomatic) and masking up," the ministry said in a statement.
Getting boosted as soon as possible was the best thing a person could do with the variant in New Zealand, the ministry said, while urging anyone over 18 and due to get that shot as soon as possible.
"Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. It also helps slow the spread of the virus."
Meanwhile, the ministry included a new statistic in its 1pm update statement - the number of Rapid Antigen Tests in the country - which today sat at 6.8 million.
Regarding the new case in Queenstown, the ministry said there were testing facilities throughout the Southern district. Specifically, there were two drive-through and walk-in testing sites in Frankton,
The Engage Safety Covid-19 Testing Centre, at 18 Glenda Ave, Frankton, is open 9am-7pm.
Te Kāika Testing Centre, on Pin Oak Ave, Frankton, is open 11am to 6pm.
No appointment is required to get tested at either of the two sites.
Queenstown Airport latest location of interest
Queenstown Airport and a flight between the South Island town and Auckland have become the latest Omicron locations of interest.
The latest case in the South Island has been detected today.
Passengers of Air New Zealand flight NZ614 Queenstown to Auckland on Sunday, 9.19am-11.03 am are considered close contacts of a case and need to self-isolate immediately, get tested and then again on day five.
Travellers at Queenstown Airport on the same day between 8.45 am and 9.15am need to self-monitor for symptoms for 10 days.
The scheme announcement from Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this morning means critical business employees would be able to go to work provided they return daily negative RATS.
Businesses will self-assess against criteria to join the scheme.
Yesterday there were 204 new cases in the community and 46 Covid-19 cases were detected at the border.
Sixteen people were in hospital with the virus and no one was in ICU.
These new locations come as the first confirmed case of Omicron in the South Island was confirmed by officials and as both the Moana Pasifika and Blues Super Rugby Pacific teams were forced into isolation in Queenstown.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has called for protesters at Parliament to "move on".
This morning police issued trespass notices to all anti-mandate protesters camping on the front lawn of Parliament after Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard closed the grounds.
Police are working to evict people and defiant protesters are being arrested in a series of scuffles.
Ardern said the protesters' views do not represent most of the country's views and evicting them from Parliament is a decision for police.
Earlier in the week, Ardern said the Omicron outbreak was likely to accelerate quickly and peak in March as forecasters estimated more than one million New Zealanders would be infected with Omicron and hundreds would die within the next few months.
Auckland remains the epicentre, with more than 1400 active cases across the region's three DHBs.
In total, there were 2209 active cases yesterday - which are cases identified in the past 21 days and who have not yet recovered.
