There are 198 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Friday, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.
Of the new cases, 152 were in Auckland, 30 in Waikato, five in Northland, six in the Bay of Plenty, two in Lakes District, one in Canterbury, one in MidCentral and one in Wairarapa.
There was also a weak positive case reported in Wellington on Thursday night.
The case, picked up in routine testing, is an essential worker from Auckland working in the city.
However, the Ministry said the result could indicate a historical case or a case in the earlier stages of infection.
"The worker is having a repeat test today and follow-up with the workplace includes tests of co-workers."
Meanwhile, two cases - one in the Bay of Plenty and one in Ashurst - announced on Thursday have been officially added to Friday’s figures.
And a case reported on Thursday in Levin has been reclassified as a Wairarapa case and has been added to the Wairarapa tally.
"A second case being reported today in Lakes DHB is being investigated and may reside outside of the district," the ministry added.
The other case in Lakes is in Taupō and is a household contact of a known case.
Of the new cases in the Bay of Plenty, one lives in the Tauranga area and four are in Mount Maunganui.
All but one are household contacts of known cases.
"Links between the remaining Mount Maunganui case and known cases are still being investigated," the ministry said.
All are self-isolating at home.
The Canterbury case, who is in Christchurch, recently travelled to the North Island and a probable link to another case is being investigated, the ministry said.
"Every new case is an urgent reminder to get tested if you’re feeling unwell. Testing at high numbers will help to minimise and contain the spread of Covid-19 in Christchurch."
In Northland, one of the three new cases is a close contact in Kaitaia and one is a close contact in Whangārei with a clear link to an Auckland case.
Interviews with the final Northland case are underway.
So far, 110 of the new cases are linked to the current Delta outbreak.
The remaining 88 are under investigation to find a link.
The total number of cases in this Delta outbreak is now 6532, of which 2232 have recovered.
There are now 76 people with Covid-19 in hospital, of which two are being assessed, including six in intensive care or a high dependency unit.
There are 28 at Auckland City Hospital, 26 at Middlemore Hospital, 18 at North Shore Hospital and one each at Waitakere, Whangārei and Waikato hospitals.
The average age of people with Covid-19 in hospital is 50.
There are 5843 contacts linked to this outbreak, of which 70 per cent have been contacted and 52 per cent have received at least one test.
As of 12pm on Friday, there were 91 locations of interest on the Ministry of Health's website, including two new exposure sites.
On Thursday, 28,997 Covid-19 tests were processed, including 15,646 in Auckland.
In total, more than 4.6 million tests for Covid-19 have been processed since the pandemic began.
On vaccines, 20,663 jabs were administered across the country on Thursday, made up of 6635 first doses and 14,028 second doses.
In total, more than 7.29 million Covid-19 vaccinations have been administered in New Zealand to date.
"Auckland DHB is fast closing in on being the first DHB in the country to be 90 per cent fully vaccinated – as of 11.45am today, there were just 101 more people who needed to receive their second shot to reach this significant milestone," the ministry said.
"The DHB is expected to reach this marker this afternoon.
"And, as of earlier morning, only 755 more Māori from Auckland DHB need to receive their first dose to reach 90 per cent of Māori getting their first vaccination - 75 per cent are already fully vaccinated in this DHB so far.
"Only 1035 more Pasifika from Auckland DHB need to receive their first dose to reach 90 per cent of Pasifika, and 78 per cent are already fully vaccinated."
The ministry also said Covid-19 was detected in wastewater samples collected from Pahiatua on November 15 and 16, but was not detected in a sample collected on 17 November.
"Anyone in the area who has symptoms – no matter how mild – is encouraged to get tested, even if they are vaccinated."
Wastewater testing is in progress at other sites across the region, including Feilding and Dannevirke, with results due next week.
"At this stage, there are no other unexpected wastewater results to report," the ministry said.
There were also two new border cases, one of which is historical, to report on Friday.
The total number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is now 9290 since the pandemic began.
Friday’s update comes after 167 new community cases on Thursday and two deaths.
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