[Source: NZ Herald]

There are 46 new community cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand today.

The Ministry of Health has just released the information.

It said a total of 71 Omicron cases have been detected at the border.

Yesterday, it said the total was 54.

The ministry said the new COVID-19 cases announced in the daily update are the latest returnees to test positive.

The Omicron cases being announced each day are the latest results on test samples that ESR has run whole genome sequencing on. This process takes a day or more to complete after a case is identified. Therefore the Omicron cases announced each day are not the same cases as those being announced as new cases at the border.

It said not every positive case returns a whole-genome sequence.

Many of the results fail because the case does not have an acute infection.

There are three new cases in Northland, 30 in Auckland, six in Waikato, four in Lakes, two in Tairāwhiti and one in Canterbury.

There are now 48 infected people being treated in hospitals across Auckland, Tauranga, Rotorua and Waikato. Seven people are in ICU.

Two cases in Tairāwhiti that were reported on Boxing Day had not been added to official numbers until today due to data reporting issues, the ministry said.

Three new cases have been detected in the Hokianga area, in the Far North, today. The trio are from the same household and are linked to an existing case, the ministry said.