Canterbury has 1075 new Covid cases today and three more virus-related deaths have been reported in the region.
The Ministry of Health has reported 7050 new community cases across New Zealand - including 93 in South Canterbury - as well as 361 people currently in hospital with the virus and 24 more deaths.
Of the 24 deaths reported today, 12 people have died over the past four days and 12 since April 25.
The total number of publicly reported deaths is now 1267 and the seven-day rolling average is 12.
Of the deaths, two were from Northland; six were from the Auckland region, one was from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, one was from Lakes DHB area, one from Taranaki; one from Hawke’s Bay; one from MidCentral, one from the Wellington region; three from Canterbury; and five from Southern. Three people were in their 50s; two in their 60s, five in 70s; seven in their 80s and seven were aged over 90. Ten were women and 14 were men.
Of the 361 people in hospital with the virus today, 14 are in intensive care, 49 are in Canterbury DHB hospitals and four are in South Canterbury hospitals.
The other cases in hospital are spread across Northland: 4; Waitemata: 43; Counties Manukau: 34; Auckland: 70; Waikato: 30; Bay of Plenty: 9; Lakes: 4; Tairāwhiti: 1; Hawke’s Bay: 9; Taranaki: 9; Whanganui: 2; MidCentral: 14; Wairarapa: 3; Hutt Valley: 15; Capital and Coast: 19; Nelson Marlborough: 7; West Coast: 2; and Southern: 33.
Today's new community cases have been reported in Northland (209), Auckland (1,962), Waikato (508), Bay of Plenty (271), Lakes (116), Hawke’s Bay (201), MidCentral (314), Whanganui (106), Taranaki (204), Tairāwhiti (30), Wairarapa (64), Capital and Coast (620), Hutt Valley (325), Nelson Marlborough (280), Canterbury (1,075), South Canterbury (93), Southern (587), West Coast (82), and the locations of three cases were unknown.
There are now 42,233 active community cases in New Zealand. There are also 70 new imported cases today.
MOH briefing on new variants
Meanwhile, the ministry's chief science adviser Dr Ian Town has provided detail on surveillance measures used for monitoring new Covid variants in New Zealand.
Town said evidence overseas shows further waves of infection - "and we are seeing similar trends in New Zealand".
"There is a small chance that [NZ will experience] a more aggressive variant," Town said.
"We are currently in the orange setting which is about protection and surveillance. The director-general has assessed this as orange as appropriate and we will continue to review that," Town said.
"We are still seeing high numbers of cases," he said.
Town said there is concern among medical experts that Covid-19 may have long-term effects on organ systems.
"But we don't have New Zealand data on that yet," he said.
"We are developing guidelines (for long Covid) and we hope to release those in July."
The ministry's chief testing adviser Kirsten Beynon said prioritising the health of all New Zealanders was critical.
"We continue to survey the sickest in our hospitals, our waterways and those who are testing positive," she said.
"It enables us to track how Covid is spreading. We use a variety of information and testing tools to provide a better understanding of Covid and variants that are circulating," she said.
Many countries have stopped testing at borders, while New Zealand has continued to test people at our borders twice.
About a third of people at the border are getting PCR tested, Beynon said.
"Currently, we are building on our genome testing to make sure information is readily available for all New Zealanders," she said.
Lead science adviser Dr Fiona Callaghan said New Zealand's surveillance system is part of an international effort.
At the border, officials are focused on catching new variants, Callaghan said.
In hospitals, the goal is to check which patients have Covid and which have more severe diseases, Callaghan said.
BA2 is now the dominant variant in New Zealand. Previously the BA1 strain was the dominant variant.
"Wastewater testing has been crucial to our monitoring, now it's used (as a) measure of virus in the community and information of the overall trend whether the outbreak is growing or slowing," Callaghan said.
Saif Town: "Obviously, Covid is not going away. It's a continual challenge for us.
"We are continuing responding and adapting to new information. Winter is always busy for our health providers and we are already seeing increased pressure and it may get worse," Town said.
NZ might see outbreaks of measles and whooping cough as immunities might be low, he said.
"We have extended the eligibility for the free flu vaccinations but there has been a supply issue so making it more available may not have been possible this year," Town said.
"Vaccination is the best protection. If you are unwell it's important to stay home."
He encouraged people who test positive for Covid-19 to be vigilant in uploading that information.
"Anyone with symptoms of Covid within 90 days of testing positive should be talking to their doctor," Town said.
Callaghan said the number of RATs being reported is lower than the number of Covid community cases, which is why wastewater testing is important.
Town said monkeypox has been a subject of active discussion among New Zealand public health teams.
"We are following those international developments really closely," Town said.
"As you probably know one of the larger outbreaks has occurred in Britain with about 300 cases so far. We are aware cases have been detected in Australia and you may recall that Cabinet yesterday decided to make it a notifiable diseases so if we do detect cases here, we think our normal case identification, contact tracing and isolation will be the best first approach to stop it spreading more rapidly," Town said.
When asked if the hospital system has enough capacity to cope with a monkeypox outbreak, Town said: "If the numbers stay relatively low, as they have done in Australia and the UK, then absolutely."
-With NZ Herald and ODT Online
