There are 17,522 new cases of Covid-19 in the community today and 696 people in hospital.

The seven-day rolling average of community cases is 17,921, up from 17,272 yesterday.

"Care needs to be taken when interpreting daily reported cases, which are expected to continue to fluctuate," the Ministry of Health said.

"This means that the seven-day rolling average of cases gives a more reliable indicator of testing trends."

More than 47,000 Rapid Antigen Test results were reported yesterday, including 16,625 positive results.

In comparison, 897 cases were confirmed via PCR testing.

"We would again urge people to self-report RATs results, even if it is negative. If you are a household contact please still report your RATs results separately, even if other household members have already reported theirs," the ministry said.

"The self-reporting of RATs helps provide a clearer picture of how the pandemic is progressing. It is essential we have as much information as possible to inform public health decision-making."

There are 192,492 active cases confirmed in the last 10 days and not yet classified as recovered.

Of ther 696 in hospital, 13 were in ICU. The average aged of those in hospital is 57.

The Ministry of Health said "While still early in the Omicron outbreak, the figures show that, based on the data available, unvaccinated people are four times over-represented in the current hospitalisation data. Just 3 percent of eligible people aged 12 and over in New Zealand have had no doses of the vaccine, however, of the eligible people in Northland and Auckland hospitals with Covid-19, 13 percent have had no doses of the vaccine."

Cases

• Seven day rolling average of community cases: 17,921
• Number of new community cases: 17,522
• Number of new community cases (PCR): 897
• Number of new community cases (RAT): 16,625
• Location of new community cases (PCR & RAT): Northland (509), Auckland (7,639), Waikato (1,541), Bay of Plenty (1,174), Lakes (475), Hawke’s Bay (435), MidCentral (400), Whanganui (95), Taranaki (311), Tairāwhiti (217), Wairarapa (99), Capital and Coast (1,545), Hutt Valley (837), Nelson Marlborough (329), Canterbury (1,308), South Canterbury (82), Southern (506), West Coast (14); Unknown (6)
• Number of new cases identified at the border: 11 (3 confirmed, 8 probable)
• Number of active community cases (total): 192,492 (cases identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered) 
• Confirmed cases (total): 239,535

Epidemiologist Rod Jackson told Morning Report daily Covid-19 case numbers were no longer reliable, because it was up to those testing positive to report their results themselves.

Case numbers have fallen about 30 percent in the past three days, but the number of test results being logged has also taken a dive.

There were 15,161 new community cases yesterday, more than 3500 fewer than the day before of 18,833. On Friday, it was 22,527.

Jackson said cases could be two or three times higher than the official reported numbers.

Similarly, Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa project leader Dion O'Neale also said the shift to rapid antigen tests (RATs) and focus on personal responsibility in reporting cases could be throwing numbers off.

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