New Zealand reports 810 new community cases of COVID-19

Wellington [New Zealand], February 13 (ANI/Xinhua): New Zealand reported 810 new community cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
Among the 810 new community infections, 623 are in the largest city, Auckland, 81 in Waikato, 15 in the capital city Wellington, 14 in the Southern region, 13 in Northland, 11 in Bay of Plenty, 11 in the Lakes Region, 10 in Hutt Valley, eight in Hawke's Bay, six in Whanganui, five in Taranaki, three in Tairawhiti, Canterbury and the MidCentral region respectively, two in Nelson Marlborough and two in South Canterbury, according to the ministry.
In addition, there are 18 new cases detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry. There are 32 patients in New Zealand hospitals with no one being treated at the intensive care units.
New Zealand reported a total of 20,228 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
"The sharp increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries," said the ministry.
About 95 per cent of the eligible population have been vaccinated with two shots in the country. New Zealand is currently at the highest Red settings under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments and gatherings are limited to 100 people. (ANI/Xinhua)