[Source: RNZ]

There are 92 new community cases of COVID-19 reported in New Zealand today.

Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said the new cases included 80 in Auckland, two in Waikato, one in Northland, five in Bay of Plenty, one in Lakes DHB, one in Nelson-Marlborough and two in Taranaki.

There are also three cases in Taranaki who are known contacts with an established link, bringing the total number of active cases in the region to five. The cases are isolating across three separate households.

On the advice of the public health unit, Devon Intermediate School in New Plymouth is closed today after it was linked to one of the cases. Any further locations of interest will be published on the ministry’s website.

There are 79 people with COVID-19 in hospital, with four still being assessed and nine in intensive care.

Waitematā and Canterbury have become the third and fourth DHB regions to reach 90 percent fully vaccinated, behind Auckland and Capital and Coast. The average across Auckland metro DHBs has also now reached 90 percent.

Dr McElnay said Tāmaki Makaura’s people have “really been the vanguard”, she says.

There were also five cases in managed isolation today.

The Ministry of Health said 46 of today’s new cases are yet to be linked.

On Thursday the Ministry of Health reported 172 new community cases, in Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Lakes and the Nelson/Tasman region. Three new cases of COVID-19 were later revealed in New Plymouth.

There have now been 8836 in the current community outbreak and 11,992 cases in New Zealand since the pandemic began.

There were 39,553 vaccine doses administered yesterday, including 8600 first doses and 16,641 second doses. Across the country, 93 percent of eligible people have had their first dose and 87 percent are fully vaccinated.