Above: The daily Covid-19 Media Briefing
Some 75 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the community today; 74 in Tāmaki and one in Pōneke. There are 687 total cases attributed to the outbreak.
Health director-general Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the Wellington case was a household contact of an existing case.
Cases had fallen from a high of 83 on Sunday to 49 on Tuesday. Bloomfield said the latest bounce in cases was not unexpected attributing it to day 12 results of people who lived with others.
"People shouldn't worry," he said, saying he thought Aotearoa hit a peak in cases "a few days ago".
Bloomfield cautioned the Pōneke case had returned three negative tests before testing positive and was asymptomatic.
He said the case "emphasised the importance of anyone who is a close contact seeing that 14-day period through and having the 12-day test’".
Eight in ICU
Some 32 people are in hospital with Covid-19; all in Tāmaki. Eight people are in ICU with three on ventilators.
Bloomfield said more than 22,000 tests were processed nationwide yesterday; 6,500 of those in the Auckland metro area.
Māori vaccination rates trail non-Māori
Hipkins said 3.5 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine had been administered in Aotearoa with 54 per cent of the eligible population having received at least one dose.
Māori vaccination rates trail non-Māori rates by 17 percentage points. So far, 37 per cent of the Māori population have had either their first dose or both doses while 47 per cent of the Pasifika community have been vaccinated.
Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins said people over 12 are eligible for the vaccine from today and can reserve their spot at Book My Vaccine, or call 0800 28 29 26.
'Good Compliance'
He said police were seeing "good compliance" at the Auckland border, although a small number of people have been turned around.
More than 3300 companies with 23,500 employees had been granted exemptions to cross the border, he said.
Bloomfield said approximately 40 supermarkets had been added as new locations of interest.
The latest list of locations and advice about self-isolating and testing is available on the Ministry of Health's website.