Ministry confirms 24 more Covid deaths in past 3 weeks

The Ministry of Health has confirmed 24 further deaths of people who had Covid-19 on Wednesday, eight of which were in the past 24 hours.

The remaining 16 people died with Covid-19 in the past three weeks. This takes the total number of Covid-19-related deaths in New Zealand since the start of the pandemic to 141.

Of the 24 people reported, three died in Northland, seven each in Auckland and Waikato, and two each in the Bay of Plenty, MidCentral and Wairarapa.

One person of the group was in their 40s, one in their 50s, four in their 60s, three in their 70s, eight in their 80s and six in their 90s. The information for one person was not available.

The Ministry of Health said that among the 24 deaths reported on Wednesday, they were aware that eight died at aged residential care facilities.

"As has occurred with Omicron overseas, while Covid-19 cases are usually seen in higher numbers among younger people early in the outbreak, over time the more severe and fatal consequences of the virus fall disproportionately on our older and more vulnerable populations," the ministry said.

"In New Zealand we have taken significant steps to limit the spread of Covid-19 in aged care facilities, such as pausing or limiting visitors, strong infection prevention and control measures, and limiting the rotation of staff among facilities."

The increase in numbers came after the Ministry of Health made changes to the way it reported the deaths of people with Covid-19 last week.

"Delays to reporting can be associated with people dying with, rather than of Covid-19, and Covid being discovered after they have died," the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry also said the average stay of people in hospitals in Auckland's three DHBs and Northland was also lengthening as the average age of patients increased.

"This indicates those being admitted are more likely to be vulnerable because of their older age and pre-existing non-Covid health conditions."

On Thursday last week, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said a “reconciliation” of numbers had resulted in changes to the overall count.

The new approach meant automatically reporting all deaths of people who die within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.

Bloomfield said the new system of reporting deaths would see New Zealand adopting a similar approach to other countries like the UK.