Coronavirus: NZ has 51 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the community

New Zealand has 51 new cases of Covid-19 in the community, reports the Ministry of Health.

Of today's new cases 47 are in Auckland, while four are in Waikato - taking the total number of active cases in Waikato to 42.

28 of these new cases are household or close contacts of existing cases. 

Today a total of 1,322 cases are now reported as having recovered from Covid-19.

That brings the total number of active cases in the community to 621 (the total number of cases in this outbreak is now 1,945).

There are 29 people in hospital, including five patients in intensive care.

Auckland, Northland and parts of Waikato (Raglan, Te Kauwhata, Ngaruawahia, Hamilton city, Huntly, Te Kuiti, Waipa, Ōtorohanga, Te Awamutu, Karapiro and Cambridge) are currently at alert level 3.

The rest of the country is at alert level 2.

Northland and Waikato are set to move to level 2 at 11.59pm on Monday 18 October.

New Zealand has had 4,632 confirmed cases since the pandemic began last year.