There are 18 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Tuesday and one death, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.
The ministry said a woman in her 70s, who had contracted Covid-19, died at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital on Monday night.
"The family has requested that no further details be released and, out of respect for those wishes, we will be making no further comment at this time," the ministry said on Tuesday.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with the patient’s family and friends at this deeply sad time."
The community cases were detected in Auckland (13), Waikato (three), Bay of Plenty (one), and Lakes (one).
In Waikato, two of the three new cases are in Te Kūiti and one is in Hamilton. Two are linked to the outbreak and one is under investigation to find a link.
The Bay of Plenty case is in Tauranga. The case is a household contact of a previously reported case and is already in isolation.
The new Lakes case, a person in Rotorua, has also not yet been linked to the outbreak but investigations are underway.
There are now 54 people in hospital with Covid-19 - 19 are at Auckland City, seven at North Shore, 22 at Middlemore, three at Tauranga, two at Rotorua and one at Waikato hospitals.
There are eight cases in intensive care or a high dependency unit.
The average age of those in hospital is 51.
"The vaccine remains our key defence against all variants of Covid-19, including Omicron," the ministry said.
"We continue to ask everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, including people who are now eligible for a booster dose."
There were 199 first vaccine doses and 1559 seconds doses administered around the country on Monday.
In total, there have been more than 3.97 million doses administered - 94 per cent of the eligible population in New Zealand.
On Monday, 7540 tests for Covid-19 were processed, including 3617 in Auckland.
"The ministry urges anyone with any symptoms that could be Covid-19, even if they’re away on holiday, to get a test and remain where they are until they receive a negative result and are feeling better," the ministry said.
"This applies as well to people who are vaccinated with even mild symptoms. For those away on holiday who test positive you will be contacted regarding your ongoing care."
There were 16 new border cases on Tuesday, including five Omicron cases. There are now 54 Omicron cases in New Zealand.
The ministry said there were no unexpected Covid-19 wastewater detections to report on Tuesday.
Tuesday’s update comes after there were 34 new Covid-19 cases to report in the community on Monday.
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