WELLINGTON – New Zealand reported 21,616 new community cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry also reported two deaths with COVID-19. Both people, one man and one woman, were aged over 70. The total number of publicly reported COVID-19-related deaths is 117 in the country, it said.

Among the infections reported on Tuesday, 6,085 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 South Island Christchurch.

In addition, 17 new cases of COVID-19 were detected at the New Zealand border, it said.

There were 960 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including 22 people in intensive care units or high dependency units.

Read more: New Zealand’s COVID-19 managed isolation facilities as 21,015 cases reported

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.