Covid-19 Omicron outbreak: 59 new cases for Whanganui

All the Whanganui sites, including the racecourse, testing and giving out RAT kits were "inordinately" busy over the weekend. Photo / Bevan Conley

There are 59 new cases of Covid-19 in the Whanganui region as two more people have been hospitalised, the Ministry of Health said on Sunday.

The Whanganui DHB said there were cases in Whanganui, Rangitīkei and Ruapehu - with the ministry recording the total number of active cases of Covid-19 here at 510.

A total of three people are being treated for the virus at Whanganui Hospital.

All the Whanganui sites testing and giving out RAT kits were "inordinately" busy over the weekend, according to a Whanganui DHB spokesperson.

The site at Whanganui racecourse was doing supervised rapid antigen tests as well as giving out kits.

If people tested positive they could also get a PCR test there, and await the result.

The best thing people can do to get a free test is to pre-register online, Whanganui DHB engagement lead Rhonda Morris said.

They will be given a number and can pick the kit up by car or on foot.

"We had everything from people on foot to bicycles yesterday," Morris said.

People can also just turn up and have a chat, to find out whether they are entitled to a kit.

People staffing the sites are wearing full PPE, and Morris hasn't heard of any who have contracted Omicron while on the job.

Nationally, there were 15,161 new community cases of Covid-19, which the ministry reports as "another day" overall daily case numbers decreased from the previous day.

On Saturday there were 18,833 new cases announced.

In neighbouring Taranaki and MidCentral DHB areas there were 239 and 378 new cases respectively.

The total number of active cases is 222,011.

The ministry reported another death on Sunday, after five were reported on Saturday.

Public health officials considered the decrease in cases could be related to delays in people self-reporting Rapid Antigen Test results, even if it is a negative result.

"It is essential we have as much information as possible to inform public health decision-making," the ministry said.

"If you take a Rapid Antigen Test, report the result online through my COVID Record."

Instructions for self-reporting RAT results can be found on the Unite Against Covid website.

- Additional reporting Laurel Stowell