New Zealand detects 7 new cases of Omicron at border

Wellington [New Zealand], December 26 (ANI/Xinhua): New Zealand detected seven new cases of COVID-19 Omicron variant in international arrivals over two days, taking the country's total Omicron cases to 45, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday.
Whole-genome sequencing has detected seven more COVID-19 cases of Omicron variant at the border over two days. There were now a total of 45 COVID-19 cases with the Omicron variant detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.
New Zealand reported 136 cases of COVID-19 over two days, including 126 community cases and 10 imported cases at the border, said the Ministry.
Among the new community infections, 88 were recorded in the largest city of Auckland, 17 in Waikato, 13 in the Lakes region, six in Bay of Plenty, one in Taranaki and one in Northland, according to the Ministry of Health.
The reporting period for the community cases in the past two days included Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, said the ministry.
The total case number of COVID-19 in the current Delta variant outbreak in the New Zealand community reached 10,619, mainly in Auckland and peripheral regions, said the ministry.
There were 47 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals including seven cases in intensive care unit (ICU) or High Dependency Unit (HDU), it said.
New Zealand recorded 13,485 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, said the ministry.
According to the ministry, 91 percent of eligible New Zealanders have now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
New Zealand is introducing the COVID-19 Protection Framework or traffic lights framework to deal with the pandemic. The largest city Auckland and part of the North Island are at red settings. The rest of the country is at orange settings. (ANI/Xinhua)