Three Covid-19 deaths in Wellington as Government announces restrictions will be dropped

Three people from the Wellington region have died of Covid-19 related causes and eight more have died across Aotearoa.

There are 960 people in hospital with the virus with an average age of 59, and 39 people are in ICU.

Of the 11 people who died, two are from Northland, five are from the Auckland region, one is from Bay of Plenty and three from the Wellington region.

One person was in their 30s, one in their 60s, one in their 70s, four in their 80s and four in their 90s.

"This is a very sad time for whānau and friends and our thoughts and condolences are with them at this time," the ministry said in its statement.

The Ministry says the deaths are tragic, and out of respect for the whānau it will not be releasing further details.

Today's Covid-related deaths take NZ's toll of publicly reported deaths to 210 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths to nine.

It comes as New Zealand reports 20,087 new community cases of Covid-19 – and just 43 cases at the border.

Of the recorded community cases the vast majority were found using RATs, with only 438 detected using PCR testing.

The Government has announced it will scrap the limit on outdoor gatherings from Friday and signalled the end of vaccine pass use and mandates for some industries from next month.

The number of people allowed to gather inside increases from 100 to 200 under the changes to the red light traffic setting kicking in on Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.