Cases of Covid-19 have risen slightly since last week, as health officials declared a whooping cough epidemic. There have been 1675 new cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand over the week to Sunday, and six further deaths attributed to the virus. There were 83 cases in hospital; it is not known how many of those were in intensive care.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases was 239 per day. The latest figures come as Health NZ director of public health Dr Nicholas Jones said a number of countries were reporting record levels of pertussis (whooping cough), possibly due to lower infection rates during the Covid-19 pandemic. As in previous epidemics, Māori and Pacific pēpi would be most affected, he said.
Last week Te Whatu Ora reported 1411 new cases and four further deaths . Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday..
