Wellington: New Zealand has detected five more Omicron cases in international arrivals, taking the country’s total infections caused by the new Covid-19 variant to 13, the Ministry of Health said in a statement on Sunday December 19.
The country also reported 63 fresh cases on Sunday, comprising 55 in the community and eight imported ones, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.
The overall nationwide caseload thus stood at 13,425, with a total of 49 deaths.
Four of the Omicron cases remain in boarder managed isolation facilities. One has now recovered and been released.
Among the new community infections, 41 were recorded in the largest city of Auckland, seven in Taranaki, four in Waikato and three in the Bay of Plenty.
According to the ministry, 90 per cent of eligible New Zealanders have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
Whole genome sequencing on all new border cases of Covid-19 is required in new precautionary measures against the Omicron variant.
All passengers on flights with Omicron cases are being required to complete a 10-day quarantine at border facilities.
Under the country’s COVID-19 Protection Framework or traffic lights framework, the largest city Auckland and part of the North Island are at red settings while the rest of the country is at orange settings.
