Coronavirus: New Zealand has 98 new confirmed cases of COVID-19

Today New Zealand has 98 new cases of Covid-19 in the community, reports the Ministry of Health.

Of today's new cases, 64 are in Auckland, 21 are in Waikato, three are in Northland, six are in the Bay of Plenty, one is in Lakes, one is in Nelson-Marlborough and two are in Hawke's Bay.

The total number of cases in this outbreak is now 8,931.

To date, a total of 2,695 cases from this outbreak are now reported as having recovered from Covid-19.

The total number of cases in Auckland during this outbreak is 8,178 (2,344 of whom have recovered), 88 cases in Northland (60 of whom have recovered), 500 in Waikato (250 of whom have recovered), 72 active cases in Bay of Plenty, three active case in Hawke's Bay, 30 cases in the Lakes District (five of whom have recovered), eight in Taranaki (six of whom have recovered), six cases in MidCentral (three of whom have recovered), 16 cases in Nelson-Tasman (one of whom has recovered) and nine cases in Canterbury (five of whom have recovered).

There are 73 people in hospital, including seven patients in intensive care.

To date, 93% of New Zealanders have had their first dose and 87% are fully vaccinated.

New Zealand has now moved to the new traffic light system, with Auckland, Northland, Taupō and Rotorua Lakes Districts, Kawerau, Whakatane, Ōpōtiki Districts, Gisborne District, Wairoa District, Rangitikei, Whanganui and Ruapehu Districts moving to red.

The rest of the North Island and the whole of the South Island is at orange.

All businesses, including cafes and restaurants, are able to open to again with the use of vaccine certificates.

New Zealand has had 12,087 confirmed cases since the pandemic began last year and 43 deaths.