Covid-19: One new case in Bay of Plenty, 18 nationwide

There is one new case of Covid-19 in Bay of Plenty today.

The case originally tested positive while in Waikato but has a Bay of Plenty address. This case remains under investigation.

There are no new cases in the Lakes District Health Board region today.

There are 18 new cases in New Zealand today including 34 in hospital and two in ICU.

There are four people in Tauranga Hospital with Covid-19, including one in ICU.

There are several new locations of interest for the region. Click here.

More Covid news
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• How many people have stayed at Rotorua MIQ?

Booster shots

Forty five per cent of the population currently eligible have now received their booster shot.

The Ministry of Health strongly recommends boosters for anyone over the age of 18 who had their second vaccine dose at least four months ago.

The ministry is today reporting 43 people at the border with Covid-19. New Zealand continues to see many border cases arriving from overseas, reflecting the growing number of Omicron cases globally.

The seven-day rolling average of border cases is 31.

Omicron update

To date, there are now 266 Omicron Covid-19 cases detected at the border since December 1.

During the same period, more than 18,000 people have arrived and been processed through Managed Isolation and Quarantine facilities

The ministry says New Zealand has taken steps to manage the risk of a community Omicron outbreak linked to border cases, including increasing the period overseas arrivals must spend in MIQ, and shifting the focus of whole-genome sequencing to areas of most risk, such as for any cases in border workers.