A man walks past the Rydges Hotel MIQ facility in Auckland [Source: NZ Herald]

There are 55 new COVID-19 cases in the community today – 41 in Auckland, four in Waikato, three in the Bay of Plenty and seven in Taranaki.

Whole-genome sequencing has detected five further cases of Omicron in international arrivals, taking New Zealand’s total to 13 cases with the variant, the Ministry of Health said in today’s 1pm update.

Four of these cases remain in managed isolation, while one has now recovered and been released.

“The recovered case arrived from London via Singapore on 7 December,” the ministry said. “This case tested positive to Covid-19 at day 0/1 and was accordingly closely managed in MIQ. They were never in the community while infectious.

“As an added precaution, 30 other passengers on their flight are regarded as close contacts. To date, 27 of these passengers have completed day 9 tests and returned negative results – testing is underway for the remaining three.

“Health and MIQ teams have been carefully planning for Omicron cases at the border and will continue to manage all arrivals cautiously. This includes isolation and testing requirements for all new arrivals, robust infection and prevention control and PPE measures at airports and MIQ facilities, and frequent surveillance testing of staff who have any contact with recent international returnees.”

Passengers on flights with Omicron cases are required to complete all 10 days at an MIQ facility, rather than spending the final three days in self-isolation.

There are 56 Covid patients in hospital, including six in intensive care or high dependency units.

Ten of those patients are in North Shore Hospital, 26 in Auckland, 15 in Middlemore, two in Waikato and three in Tauranga.

Among new Covid cases in Waikato, three are in Te Kuiti and one is in Tokoroa.

One case remains under investigation to determine any links to previous cases.