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18,423 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, 11 deaths reported

March 24, 2022

A health worker hands out rapid antigen tests in Henderson, Auckland. (Source: Getty)

There are 18,423 new Covid-19 cases in the community in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday.

The numbers were reported in the last 24 hours.

There are 913 people in hospital with the virus, including 28 in an intensive care or high dependency unit.

This is a fall on Wednesday's hospitalisations of 960, with three less people in ICU compared with 24 hours ago.

The ministry also announced 11 Covid-related deaths.

There are also 913 people in hospital in NZ with the virus. (Source: 1News)

Of the 11 people who have died, two were from Auckland, six were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty and one was from the Wellington region.

Two of the people were in their 50s, one person was in their 70s, four were in their 80s and four in their 90s.

Six were men and five were women.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with their whānau and friends at this sad time. Out of respect, we will be making no further comment," the ministry said.

Thursday's deaths take the total number of publicly reported Covid-related deaths to 221.

The seven-day rolling average of deaths is now 10.

Thursday’s 18,423 positive cases, detected through rapid antigen tests (RATs) and PCR tests, are located in Northland (674), Auckland (3629), Waikato (1643), Bay of Plenty (987), Lakes (483), Hawke’s Bay (1055), MidCentral (876), Whanganui (313), Taranaki (655), Tairāwhiti (326), Wairarapa (249), Capital and Coast (1200), Hutt Valley (627), Nelson Marlborough (709), Canterbury (3150), South Canterbury (319), Southern (1459) and West Coast (57).

The location of 12 cases is unknown.

The ministry said 18,021 of Thursday's figures were detected through RATs and 402 through PCR tests. A total of 3268 PCR tests were carried out in the last 24 hours, while 36,969 RAT results were reported.

The number of active community cases is 118,631. They were identified in the past seven days but have not yet been classified as recovered.

The ministry said the seven-day rolling average of cases is 16,949, down from 17,111 on Wednesday.

There are also 44 new cases at the border, the ministry announced on Thursday.

On Wednesday, 20,087 community cases were recorded.

New Zealand Covid-19

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