There are 9241 new community Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has announced on Saturday.
The ministry also announced another 29 deaths of people with Covid-19.
There are 761 people in hospital with the virus, down from 773 on Friday.
Fifteen people are in an intensive care or high dependency unit, one more than 24 hours ago.
Saturday's reported deaths takes the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 1805 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths is 20.
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Of the people whose deaths were reported today: Three were from Auckland region, four were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, three were from Lakes, two were from Hawke’s Bay, two were from MidCentral, two were from Wellington region, three were from Nelson Marlborough, four were from Canterbury/West Coast, four were from Southern.
Two were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, 16 were in their 80s and eight were aged over 90. Of these people, 19 were women and ten were men.
It comes ahead of the access criteria for three antiviral treatments for Covid-19 being widened on Monday to include more people at risk of severe illness.
This includes all people aged 75 years and over and those who have been admitted previously to an Intensive Care Unit directly as a result of Covid-19.
Those treatments are nirmatrelvir with ritonavir (branded as Paxlovid), molnupiravir (branded as Lagevrio) and remdesivir, an infusion treatment (branded as Veklury).
The Ministry of Health is urging people to wear a mask in public indoor settings outside the home and in poorly ventilated spaces, or when it is hard to physically distance from other people.
The Ministry said it is closely monitoring the continued increase in Covid-19 positive cases and hospitalisations as part of its ongoing review and updating of the response to the current community outbreak.
"The increase in cases and hospitalisations emphasises the importance of everybody doing the basics well to help prevent infection and serious illness," The ministry said.
"In particular, people should stay home if they are unwell, take a rapid antigen test (RAT) and upload the result on My Covid Record, and isolate if positive or while still symptomatic.
"If you’re heading out to pick up free RATs and masks, please check the Healthpoint website to find your nearest participating pharmacy – as not all pharmacies are providing this service. People can also continue to request free COVID-19 RATs kits online."
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