Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 7800 new cases, 17 virus-related deaths, 401 people in hospital

There are 7800 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today.

The Ministry of Health reported a further 17 Covid-related deaths.

One person whose death was reported today was aged in their 50s, one was in their 60s, four were in their 70s, five were in their 80s and six were over 90.

Three of those people were from the Auckland region, three were from the Wellington region, two were from Northland, two were from Canterbury, two were from the Southern region, and one each from Waikato, Tairāwhiti, Mid Central, Hawke's Bay and Nelson Marlborough.

Thirteen were women and four were men.

The total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 is 1039. The seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 14.

There are 401 people in hospital with the virus, including 14 in intensive care

The locations of today's community cases are: Northland (211), Auckland (2755), Waikato (531), Bay of Plenty (270), Lakes (123), Hawke's Bay (270), MidCentral (237), Whanganui (76), Taranaki (231), Tairāwhiti (58), Wairarapa (61), Capital and Coast (530), Hutt Valley (224), Nelson Marlborough (264), Canterbury (1165), South Canterbury (116), Southern (591) and the West Coast (84).

There are currently 56,200 active community cases in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, there 99 new imported cases reported by the ministry today.

Earlier this week, the number of fatalities in New Zealand linked to Covid-19 surpassed 1000 since the pandemic began.

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers is 8032, while last Friday it was 7548.

There are 401 people with Covid-19 in hospital. They are in Northland (14), Waitematā (43), Counties Manukau (52), Auckland (77), Waikato (31), Bay of Plenty (eight), Lakes (four), Tairāwhiti (two), Hawke's Bay (13), Taranaki (11), Whanganui (five), MidCentral (15), Wairarapa (one), Hutt Valley (five), Capital and Coast (15), Nelson Marlborough (six), Canterbury (52), South Canterbury (10), West Coast (three) and the Southern region (34).

In an analysis published on earlier this week, Herald senior writer Derek Cheng said who has died and where had mirrored the spread of Omicron with Aucklanders making up a higher proportion initially, but then fewer as the virus became more prevalent further south.

Before the Omicron outbreak, there were only 55 deaths, but the death toll hit 500 on April 11 and, as of yesterday, stood at 1022.

Yesterday, the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths was 16.

While every death was a tragedy, Cheng wrote, New Zealand's per capita death rate was still very low compared to other countries.

A further five Covid-related deaths were reported yesterday. One person was in their 70s and four people were in their 80s.

Yesterday, 9091 community cases of Covid-19 were reported by health authorities. There were 411 people with the virus in hospital, including 12 in intensive care.

Ninety "imported cases" - the new terminology for border cases - were reported. The term imported cases reflected that although the cases had arrived from overseas, most would be isolating in the community.