There are 126 cases of Covid-19 in the community today, all in the upper North Island.
Auckland has 107 new cases, there is one in Northland and 18 in Waikato.
The Ministry of Health is also aware of a small number of Covid-19 cases in Auckland in Corrections custody.
These people were exposed to Covid-19 prior to coming into custody and are being managed appropriately to avoid any potential for the virus to spread to the prison population. There is no evidence of in-facility transmission to date.
Two further staff members at Edmonton Meadows care home in the Auckland suburb of Henderson have now tested positive.
The total number of active cases linked to the home is now 12.
A mobile testing unit is at the facility today.
Two residents continue to receive care at North Shore Hospital, and the cause of the cluster remains unknown.
A total of 49 people are in hospital today, down from 53 yesterday. There are three patients currently in ICU or a high-dependency unit.
In Christchurch, more wastewater sample results are expected tomorrow after samples earlier in the week tested positive for Covid-19.
While there were no new cases today in Canterbury, the Ministry of Health has encouraged anyone with symptoms - even if mild, and even if the person is vaccinated - to get tested.
PM heckled in Northland
The new cases came as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ended a press conference early after being heckled in Northland.
Ardern and Māori-Crown relations Minister Kelvin Davis are in Northland, viewing the rollout of vaccinations, and are speaking to media this afternoon.
Ardern told reporters before ending the stand-up that she had seen multiple people getting vaccinated and if anyone had questions they should ask them and have them answered by professionals.
She said the role of the government was to support those on-the-ground initiatives as quickly as possible.
"I asked one provider, what are you hearing when you're out vaccinating ... they described it as Covid not necessarily feeling close enough to the community yet, that even when there have been cases in Northland it might be seen as a valley over, not at the front door."
"We will do everything we can to keep it isolated, but we need everyone to be vaccinated."
She said decisions were made based on public health advice.
She would rather people were getting vaccinated regardless of alert level, because it was the right thing to do, she said.
Northland is one of the lowest-performing regions for vaccinations, with just 64 percent of the region fully vaccinated - second-last, only ahead of Tairāwhiti.
It is also the region that needs the largest number of first doses to reach 90 percent of the eligible population, with more than 17,000 doses required to reach that milestone.
Asked about the Whānau Ora court decision overnight, Ardern said everyone was on the same page and trying to reach as many people as possible.
"Sir I will shut down the press conference if this continues," she told one person heckling her.
"We have someone who is disrupting your press conference today, so we will reconvene."
She eventually shut down the press conference to reconvene inside.
Waikato cases
As of 9am today, there were 18 new cases in the region, comprising six in Hamilton, four in Ōtorohanga, two in Ngaruawahia, four in Te Awamutu, one in Kihikihi and one in Kawhia.
All cases have been epidemiologically linked. Fourteen of the 18 cases were already in isolation, having been contacts of previous cases.
In a post on Facebook earlier today, Ōtorohanga mayor Max Baxter said "unfortunately there are possibly 4 new cases of Covid-19 in Ōtorohanga today".
So far he was not aware of any new locations of interest since the last update at 6pm yesterday.
Baxter urged residents to continue to treat every premise as if it was a location of interest.
"So carry on wearing face masks, social distance and sanitise. This is even more important now we are about to change to a new level."
Baxter said it was also "disappointing to hear" that the number of people being testing in Ōtorohanga had dropped off considerably in the last few days.
"Please if you are unwell, have any doubts or are worried please get tested."
Meanwhile, Northland's Covid-19 Delta outbreak has grown to 14 cases after health officials this morning confirmed a second case in the Kaitaia area.
