Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 6862 cases, 25 virus-related deaths; Ashley Bloomfield tests positive in Geneva

There are 6862 new community cases of Covid today, as health officials reveal another 25 deaths linked to the virus.

Of the people whose deaths the Ministry of Health reported today, five were from the Auckland region, three were from Northland, one was from Waikato, one was from Hawke's Bay, nine were from Canterbury, two were from the Wellington region, one was from MidCentral, one was from Bay of Plenty and two were from the Southern region.

One person was aged in their 30s, three people were in their 40s, four in their 50s, two were in their 60s, four were in their 70s, six were in their 80s and five were aged over 90.

The total number of deaths with Covid-19 is 1127 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 13, the ministry said in today's update.

There are 350 people in hospital with the virus, including 10 in intensive care.

The number of community cases is trending down - the seven-day rolling average is 6960, while last Friday it was 8032.

The locations of today's 6862 community cases is: Northland (234), Auckland (2292), Waikato (505), Bay of Plenty (193), Lakes (104), Hawke's Bay (155), MidCentral (214), Whanganui (79), Taranaki (198), Tairāwhiti (30), Wairarapa (57), Capital and Coast (543), Hutt Valley (203), Nelson Marlborough (283), Canterbury (1078), South Canterbury (148), Southern (484) and the West Coast (60). The locations of two cases is not known.

Meanwhile, the ministry has reported 90 imported cases.

There are currently 48,706 active community cases of Covid-19 in total.

The 350 patients in hospital are in Northland (10), Waitemata (35), Counties Manukau (25), Auckland (62), Waikato (23), Bay of Plenty (seven), Lakes (five), Tairāwhiti (two), Hawke's Bay (20), Taranaki (six), Whanganui (three), MidCentral (13), Wairarapa (two), Hutt Valley (five), Capital and Coast (29), Nelson Marlborough (11), Canterbury (46), South Canterbury (11), West Coast (one) and Southern (34). The ministry said Wairarapa DHB had not yet submitted its hospitalisation numbers, therefore the figures included today were from yesterday. Additionally, yesterday's hospitalisation numbers for Hutt Valley were reported as 34 in error, the ministry said. The correct number was four.

A total of 95.2 per cent of eligible Kiwis have had two vaccine doses and 70.6 per cent of those eligible have been boosted.

For Māori, these figures are 88.3 per cent and 53.4 per cent, respectively.

More than a quarter of children aged 5-11 are now double-jabbed.

Today's case numbers come as health officials confirmed Dr Ashley Bloomfield had tested positive for Covid while representing New Zealand in Switzerland at the World Health Assembly.

Bloomfield, who returned a positive result yesterday, was now self-isolating in Geneva meaning his return to New Zealand would be delayed.

He had been following all appropriate health precautions and was experiencing mild symptoms, said officials.

Today the Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced details about the second Pfizer jab, indicating hundreds of thousands of people would be eligible for the shot in coming months as winter approached.

It follows a recommendation from the ministry's vaccination advisory group that a second booster dose might be beneficial for those most at-risk of serious illness from the infection and with a gap of six months from their previous booster.

Older people, aged care facility residents, disability care residents aged 16 years and over, and severely immunocompromised people aged 16 years and over could be eligible.

The vast majority of this targeted group would be able to get their second shot from July.

It comes as a new Omicron variant emerged in the community in Hawke's Bay this week.

On Wednesday, health officials revealed the first case of Omicron sub-variant BA.2.12.1 in a community case, without a clear link to the border, from a test result returned earlier in May.

The subvariant is prevalent in the United States and had been detected at the New Zealand border for many weeks, with 29 imported cases reported since April.

The ministry said emerging data suggested BA.2.12.1 was marginally more transmissible than the subvariants currently circulating in New Zealand.

Genomic surveillance remained in place to study any new variants and track their spread.

Meanwhile, the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants had been detected in wastewater samples at Rosedale on Auckland's North Shore and in Gisborne.

"The BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants are being monitored by the World Health Organisation; to date, compared to BA.2, there is clinical data to suggest an increased transmissibility but no data suggesting it causes more severe illness," said the ministry.

Officials said the vast majority of recently sequenced cases in New Zealand continued to be of the Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, with small number of cases with the BA.1 sub-variant.