Coronavirus: New Zealand has 198 confirmed new cases of COVID-19

New Zealand has 198 new cases of Covid-19 in the community, reports the Ministry of Health.

Of today's new cases, 152 are in Auckland, one is in Canterbury, one is in MidCentral, one is in Wairarapa, six are Bay of Plenty, two are in the Lakes District, five are in Northland and 30 are in Waikato.

A case announced yesterday in the Bay of Plenty is officially added to today's figures. A case announced yesterday in Ashurst is officially added to today's figure. A case reported yesterday in Levin has been reclassified as a Wairarapa case and has been added to the Wairarapa tally.

The total number of cases in this outbreak is now 6,532.

To date, a total of 2,232 cases are now reported as having recovered from Covid-19.

The total number of cases in Auckland is 6,102 (2,089 of whom have recovered), 312 in Waikato (98 of whom have recovered), 58 cases in Northland (24 of whom have recovered), six active cases in Taranaki, 17 active cases in the Lakes District, 7 active cases in Bay of Plenty, three active cases in MidCentral, three active cases in Wairarapa and six cases in Canterbury (three of whom have recovered).

There are 76 people in hospital, including six patients in intensive care.

To date, 91% of New Zealanders have had their first dose and 82% are fully vaccinated.

Auckland is currently at alert level 3 step 2.

The rest of the country is at alert level 2.

Previously, the Prime Minister revealed New Zealand will move into a new way of managing Covid-19 when District Health Boards have 90 per cent of their eligible populations vaccinated.

The traffic light system will use vaccine certificates to allow complying businesses to continue to operate at all times - and proposes to end nationwide lockdowns.

New Zealand has had 9,290 confirmed cases since the pandemic began last year and 38 deaths.