New Zealand reports 14,128 new COVID-19 community cases

WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported 14,128 new community cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry also reported five deaths with COVID-19. The total number of publicly reported COVID-19-related deaths is 156 in the country, it said.

Among the infections reported on Friday, 3,498 cases were in the biggest city Auckland, said the ministry, adding the epidemic continues to spread across New Zealand, such as the capital city Wellington and the largest city in the South Island Christchurch.

In addition, 18 new cases were detected at the New Zealand border, it said.

There were 943 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including 25 people in intensive care units or high dependency units.

Read more: New Zealand reports 19,566 new COVID-19 community cases

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.