In the seven months covering the Delta and Omicron outbreaks, 32 Pasifika in Auckland and Northland have died with Covid-19 after catching it in the community.
The detail was confirmed by health officials from the Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC), which covered Auckland's three DHBs and Northland.
NRHCC's chief clinical officer Dr Andrew Old said the statistics showed Pasifika were hit particularly hard.
Old said, to date, 28% of all Omicron cases in Auckland had been among Pasifika. He said that figure was highest early in the Omicron outbreak, where about half of cases were from that community.
"Thankfully, the number of new Pacific cases has halved in each of the past two weeks."
He added that case numbers this week looked to be following the same trend.
Last week, 5209 new Covid-19 cases were Pasifika compared with nearly 10,700 the week prior.
Old said hospitalisations among Pacific communities were also high at 43% since the start of the Omicron outbreak.
At its peak, Pasifika made up more than 60% of all people who went to the hospital with the virus, he said.
Old said, in the past week, 387 people in hospital with Covid-19 were Pasifika, compared to 469 the week prior.
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However, Māori now had the highest rate of Covid-19 cases, and hospitalisation rates among whānau were on the rise.
"Māori currently have the highest rate at 35 [cases] per 1000, then Pacific, and their rate is 28 per 1000,” Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said on Thursday.
Ministry of Health data shows that, since the week of August 15, 176 people nationwide have died within 28 days of being reported as a Covid-19 case.
Pasifika make up about 8% of New Zealand's population.
Dr Fiona Shepherd, a GP at Southpoint Family Doctors’ in Manukau, said she saw daily how "particularly hard" the Pacific community had been hit by Omicron.
She said while cases and hospitalisation rates were falling, it was important to remember the pandemic hadn't yet ended.
Shepherd encouraged people to continue to be vigilant and keep wearing masks.
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