There are 163 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Friday - 159 in Auckland and four in Waikato - as well as one death in Auckland, Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay has confirmed.
McElnay gave the updated figures at the 1pm briefing alongside Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson in Wellington.
The latest death reported Friday is a man who was self-isolating at home with Covid-19.
The man was discovered at his Mt Eden address by emergency services and was dead on arrival, McElnay said.
It is the second death reported this week of a case who was self-isolating at home, although Robertson emphasised both deaths are not yet confirmed as being Covid-related.
The total number of cases in this Delta outbreak is now 4034 of which 1723 have recovered.
Of the 163 new cases, 61 of the cases are yet to be linked to a current case. The other 102 cases are yet to be linked.
In the Waikato, three of Friday's cases have been linked to previous cases while the fourth - in Te Kuiti - is being investigated for any links.
There are currently a record-high 69 cases in hospitals; 23 in Middlemore Hospital, 26 in Auckland Hospital, 18 in North Shore Hospital and one case in Waitakere. There is also one case in Waikato Hospital. Six of those cases are in ICU or HDU.
The Director of Public Health gave the latest updates at the 1pm conference in Wellington. (Source: Other)
The Ministry of Health currently has 3,732 contacts linked to this outbreak, of which 73 per cent have been contacted and 73 per cent have received at least one test.
McElnay also confirmed the detection of Covid-19 in Taranaki wastewater from a sample collected in Stratford on Monday, saying additional follow ups would be made over the coming days.
On Thursday, 28,890 tests for Covid-19 were processed throughout the country, including 12,149 from Auckland.
In total there has been more than 4.2 million tests for the virus processed since the pandemic began.
On vaccinations, 26,058 doses were administered on Thursday, made up of 6,646 first doses and 19,412 second doses.
More than 6.9 million doses have been administered in New Zealand to date.
McElnay said the Ministry of Health is also once again shifting its focus in attention to places of interest in Auckland.
"Given the number of new and active community cases of Covid-19 in Auckland, our approach has shifted from listing every location of interest to focusing on high-risk events. These are exposures where there are likely to be close contacts of a positive case," McElnay said.
McElnay noted this Saturday will be three weeks since the Government's Super Saturday initiative was held nationwide, meaning 130,000 Kiwis will be able to get their second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and be fully vaccinated.
This will be supported by radio and social media promotion and text messages to those eligible for the second dose, as well as advertising around NPC rugby matches this weekend, McElnay added.
There was also two new Covid-19 cases found at the border on Friday as well as two historical cases.
SHARE ME