New Zealand’s latest Covid-19 wave has officially peaked - but the worst of a flu season that’s driven a surge in Auckland hospital cases still lies ahead of us, a modeller says. Professor Michael Plank said the country’s fifth wave looked to have peaked early last month, around the time that weekly hospitalisation numbers climbed to nearly 400. “The peak number of Covid-19 hospital patients was very similar to the last wave around Christmas, although the latest wave was shorter and sharper than the Christmas one,” said Plank, of Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa.
Since then, Covid activity appeared to have dropped off “quite rapidly”. “Reported cases, wastewater levels and hospital admissions are all less than half what they were at the peak nationally, although there will be some regional variations.”.
