A total of 21,685 new Covid cases have been reported in the past week.

More than a third of the cases (8609) were reinfections, the Ministry of Health said in today’s weekly update.

There were 53 deaths reported - six were from Northland, 13 were from Auckland region, five were from Waikato, one was from Bay of Plenty, one was from Lakes, one was from Hawke’s Bay, four were from Taranaki, one was from MidCentral, one was from Whanganui, five were from Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, 11 were from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury, two were from Southern.

Five of the deaths were people aged in their 50s, five were in their 60s, 10 were in their 70s, 21 were in their 80s and 12 were aged over 90.

Of these people, 28 were women and 25 were men.

Meanwhile there were 422 Covid patients in hospital as at midnight, including nine people in intensive care.

Canterbury reported the highest number of cases in the past week (2696), followed by Counties Manukau (2537) and then Waitematā (2468). The Auckland region reported 2110 new cases.

Yesterday there were 2227 new daily cases of Covid-19 reported in the community.

According to data on the Ministry of Health’s website, 40 per cent (886) of the daily cases reported on Sunday were reinfections.

The seven day rolling average of community cases was 2996, which was down compared to last Sunday’s average of 3290.

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The seven-day rolling average of reinfections is sitting at 1163. Last Sunday it was 995.

Last Wednesday, in its most recent weekly update, the Ministry of Health recorded 22,770 new case in the community for the period between December 26 and January 1.

They also reported a further 56 deaths.

There were 436 people in hospital with the virus, including eight in intensive care, as of 11.59pm on Sunday, January 1.

Some Kiwis’ holiday celebrations were plagued by the virus with approximately 32,000 people testing positive in the week leading up to Christmas.

Just as life had nearly returned to normal after three years of living with the pandemic, the World Health Organisation put out a warning as a ‘super-variant’ emerges and spreads.

The new Omicron strain, XBB. 1.5 and nicknamed the Kraken, is believed to be more transmissible and evade protection from vaccines and former infection.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has labelled the strain as “the most transmissible sub-variant that has been detected yet,” with XBB. 1.5 causing large numbers of infections in the US. It’s also been detected in Australia, the UK and several European countries including Denmark, France, Germany, and Spain. The sub-variant is yet to be found in New Zealand.

Head of the University of Melbourne’s School of Health Sciences, Professor Bruce Thompson, said the “rules of engagement haven’t changed”. He also said while increased transmissibility may see cases increase, the most important factor is whether the new sub-variant could lead to more severe illness, which initial analysis doesn’t indicate.

“This is part of living with it,” he said.

“We’re going to get new variants but the biggest question is whether they lead to greater mortality or morbidity or symptoms which make people more sick.”

However overseas, some governments have advised residents to remain vigilant against virus complacency.

In the UK, the Health Security Agency have advised people with cold and flu symptoms to stay at home or wear masks, as the country’s National Health System (NHS) battles cases of Covid and the flu. This comes after all Covid restrictions across the UK were scrapped by the then British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson in February 2022.

UK Health Secretary Humza Yousaf has also warned the NHS would face “an extremely challenging” next two weeks as the dual viruses circulated in the community.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: “This winter will probably be the most challenging that the NHS has ever faced in its 74-year existence.

“That’s because of not just a rise in Covid cases but in other viral infections that have come back with a vengeance that we haven’t seen in the last couple of years.”