There are 18,423 new Covid cases today and 11 new deaths to report with 913 people in hospital. 

Twenty-eight people are in intensive care units. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said today's deaths take the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 221 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths to 10. 

Of the11 deaths, two people are from the Auckland region, two are from Bay of Plenty, six are from Waikato, and one is from the Wellington region. 

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield ays today's numbers were quite a drop from yesterday. 
Bloomfield said he passed on his condolences to those families and whānau of those Covid-related deaths reported today. 
The Ministry urged people to continue to get vaccinated against the virus. 

"Every hospitalisation is a reminder of the importance of getting vaccinated to prevent severe illness from Covid-19. There is a much lower risk of being hospitalised if you are up to date with your vaccinations, which for Omicron includes a third or booster dose," said the ministry. 

The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 across the country are: Northland: 22; North Shore: 148; Middlemore: 207; Auckland: 159; Waikato: 82; Bay of Plenty: 39; Lakes: 16; Tairāwhiti: 4, Hawke's Bay: 40; Taranaki: 16; Whanganui: 3; MidCentral: 23; Hutt Valley: 17; Capital and Coast: 43; Wairarapa: 7; Nelson Marlborough: 11; Canterbury: 51; South Canterbury: 3; Southern: 22 

Yesterday there were 20,087 new cases in the community and 960 people were in hospital with the virus, 31 of these were in ICU or HDU. 

At the border, 43 Covid-19 cases were detected. 

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins has indicated a move to the orange traffic light setting would happen once the whole country has peaked in the outbreak. 

Even though Auckland peaked over two weeks ago, Hipkins said cases were still increasing in other parts of the country and defended the country remaining in red. 

He also said the country remains under the red light traffic setting because of the strain on hospitals. 

Hospitals across the country are facing significant staffing shortages. 

The Canterbury District Health Board reported that about 15 per cent of nurses, 13 per cent of allied health workers - including medical technicians, physiotherapists and lab workers - and 9 per cent of doctors were off because of Covid-19. 

In total about 510 staff were off because they were a positive case or were a household contact. 

"[Hospitals] are relatively under strain. We've said right the way along, we want to avoid as many people getting Covid-19 as we can, particularly the people who might die from it. So that continues to be our objective," Hipkins told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking today. 

Vaccine passes and most mandates will be dropped from April 4, the Prime Minister announced on Wednesday. 

However, unvaccinated teachers could remain barred from some jobs as the Education Ministry has told schools they can require Covid-19 vaccination for certain roles even after the Government mandate lifts on April 5. 

Ardern also announced outdoor gathering limits would be scrapped and the number of people allowed to gather inside would increase from 100 to 200 from 11.59pm Friday. 

QR scanning will no longer be required, while masks will continue to be used and be one of the key protections. 

There are some in the community who are nervous about the changes, particularly disabled and immunocompromised whānau. 

Green Party Covid-19 response spokesman Teanau Tuiono said the party did not support the changes and called for better protections for vulnerable communities. 

"Stronger protections in schools, equitable vaccination rates, and free masks are essential for keeping our most at-risk communities safe. 

"They are also necessary to protect our overwhelmed health system. 

"It is also far too premature to drop vaccine mandates for education, especially in early childhood education where under-5s cannot be vaccinated." 

Meanwhile, National Party Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop said with vaccine passes gone the traffic light system was now redundant. 

"The Government would be better to ditch the whole thing and create some simple rules around masks and perhaps venue limits, rather than persist with a complicated colour-code system that has never been used properly and that barely anyone understands."