It comes as Cabinet prepares to discuss the reopening of New Zealand's borders.
Today's community cases are in Northland (5), Auckland (84), Waikato (20), Lakes (1), Bay of Plenty (8), Tairāwhiti (2), Taranaki (1), Hawke’s Bay (2), Wellington (1), Nelson Marlborough (1) and Canterbury (1).
In addition, due to the Ministry’s daily cut-off period for reporting, it also announced out-of-cycle cases for Taranaki (3) and one for Hawke’s Bay and four for Canterbury. These cases will be added to the official count tomorrow.
There are eight people in hospitals today, but no one in intensive care.
In a statement this afternoon the Ministry of Health said there were 22,508 booster doses administered yesterday, taking the total to date to 1,324,160.
The Ministry said because the Omicron variant is now the dominant strain, the specific Covid variant was no longer being reported alongside case numbers.
The most common early symptoms of the highly transmissible Omicron strain were a sore or scratchy throat and a runny nose. The Ministry strongly advised getting vaccinated, including getting a booster dose as soon as it was due.
"Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised. Being boosted also helps slow the spread of the virus. If you’re over 18 and your booster is due, please get it now.
"Evidence to date is that the rate of adverse reactions to a booster dose is similar to people receiving their second dose."
