Wellington : New Zealand reported 163 new Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the community on Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country’s community outbreak to 4,034.
Among the new infections, 159 were recorded in the largest city of Auckland and four in nearby Waikato, Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay told a press conference.
Meanwhile, New Zealand reported a second death in the community of a person who was isolating at home, following the first death on Wednesday, McElnay said.
Health authorities will be working with the police to review the circumstances of the fatality.
McElnay said the cause of both deaths are being investigated as part of a wider joint systemic review of the home isolation of COVID-19 patients to identify any improvement to the system.
Sixty-nine of Friday’s 163 community cases are being treated in hospitals, including six in intensive care units or high dependency units, McElnay said.
There are 3,316 cases that have been clearly epidemiologically linked to another case or a sub-cluster, and a further 515 cases for which links are yet to be fully established, she said.
New Zealand also reported two new cases identified at the border among recent returnees. The cases have remained in managed quarantine in Auckland.
The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New Zealand stands at 6,777 currently, according to the health ministry.
There were 26,058 vaccine doses administered on Thursday, including 6,646 first doses and 19,412 second doses. To date, 89 percent of New Zealanders have had their first doses and 77 percent are fully vaccinated, statistics show.
The government’s goal is to administer the first jabs to 90 percent of people before it further lowers alert levels and adopts the new “traffic light” alert system.
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