Covid 19 Omicron: 162 new cases in Whanganui DHB region

The number of active Covid-19 cases continues to grow in the region. Photo / NZME

The Ministry of Health has reported 162 new cases of Covid-19 in the Whanganui District Health Board region.

There are three cases now in Whanganui Hospital as of Saturday afternoon, down from five on Friday.

The total number of active cases in the region is 2145, according to the Whanganui District Health Board.

The figures were announced on Saturday afternoon as part of 18,699 new community Covid-19 cases in New Zealand.

Whanganui District Health Board updates now include figures from the South Taranaki, with the boundary being the Pātea River.

The ministry says its daily reported cases may differ from those reported by a DHB because of different reporting cut-off times.

As of 11.59pm last night, the isolation period for cases and household contacts was now reduced from 10 to seven days.

The Ministry of Health again stated that this change applies to anyone who is isolating at the time of the change.

"If you test positive for Covid-19, you are required to isolate for seven days," the ministry said. "You do not need to be retested after your initial positive result. "If you still have symptoms after seven days, stay home until you feel better and then wait another 24 hours.

"If you are a household contact and you have done a rapid antigen test (RAT) on both days 3 and 7 of the isolation period of the first Covid-19 positive person in your house, and both tests are negative, you can leave isolation on day 8 if you are well.

"If you are a household contact and return a positive RAT result while isolating, you will need to isolate for a further 7 days and wait till 24 hours after you are symptom free. Other household members do not have to reset their isolation and can leave isolation on day 8, the same day as the first case can leave isolation, provided they have returned negative RAT results and are not symptomatic."

The ministry said that if you have tested negative, but still feel sick or symptomatic, they "strongly" advised people to follow public health guidance and "stay home and away from public places, work and other social gatherings to keep others and yourself safe".