Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Health Ministry to release new case numbers from past two days

The Ministry of Health is scheduled to provide an update about the number of new Covid-19 cases in the country.

There was no update yesterday as it was Good Friday, so today’s update will include information from the past 48 hours.

New Zealand moved to the less restrictive orange traffic light pandemic response setting at 11.59pm on Wednesday in time for the Easter holidays.

As people enjoy the long weekend around the country, there are no indoor or outdoor capacity limits. Seated rules have also been removed.

However, masks are still required at some gatherings and events, close-proximity businesses such as hairdressers and retail stores. The seven-day isolation requirement for positive cases remains.

Health officials have previously warned if people catch Covid while they are on the road, they may need to self-isolate wherever they test positive or become a household contact.

“There may be extra costs involved in paying for additional accommodation and changing your travel plans,” the ministry said.

If a case had used their own vehicle to travel, they could go back to their home to isolate but needed to take public health measures to ensure they didn’t infect anyone on their way home.

This included maintaining social distance and using self-service petrol stations, the ministry said.

However, if a person had used public transport or travelled between islands, they would not be able to isolate at home.

It was important people had a plan and the ability to isolate where they were holidaying, if they needed to, the ministry said.

On Thursday, the last time case numbers were updated, the ministry reported 9563 new community cases of Covid-19 and a further 16 virus-related deaths.

There were 519 people in hospital, including 24 in intensive care.

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