There are 28 new Covid-19 cases in the community on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health has announced.
The cases are Auckland (17), Waikato (1), Bay of Plenty (4), Lakes (4), Christchurch (1) and South Canterbury (1).
Two people with the virus have also died, the ministry said.
A man in his 30s died at home and was tested for the virus after his death.
The ministry said a man in his 60s died with the virus at Middlemore Hospital on Sunday.
"Our thoughts are with their whānau and friends at this deeply sad time.
"Out of respect for both families, no further details will be released and we will be making no further comment at this time."
Thirty-one people are in hospital with the virus, including two in an intensive care or high dependency unit.
The ministry also revealed that since December 1, 196 Omicron cases have been detected at the border, compared with 11 of the Delta variant.
It pointed out more than 18,000 people have been through MIQ during this time.
A total of 217 cases caught at the border are still undergoing whole genome sequencing, the ministry said.
"The expectation is that the vast majority will be the Omicron variant."
The new case in the Waikato is in Atiamuri.
The four fresh cases in the Bay of Plenty are all in Tauranga. They are all close contacts of earlier cases.
The four new cases in the Lakes DHB area are in Rotorua. One of them is a close contact of an earlier case.
The remaining three are still being investigated for links to earlier cases.
In the Canterbury DHB area, there are four community cases in Canterbury and one in South Canterbury, which includes the two cases announced on Tuesday.
Two of the five cases are close contacts of earlier cases. One remains under investigation.
Three of the cases will be added to Thursday’s case numbers.
It is expected there will be more locations of interest around Christchurch as a result, the ministry said.
Sixty-five Covid-19 cases were also detected at the border on Wednesday.
They had arrived in the country between January 2 and 10 and had travelled from the UK, South Africa, Portugal, India, Fiji, Qatar, Tanzania, Australia, Brazil, the US and France.
Travel history is still to be confirmed for four of the cases.
They had tested positive for the virus between day 0 and 14.
On Tuesday, 11 community cases were announced.
SHARE ME