The Government has announced New Zealand’s Covid-19 settings will remain unchanged over the summer break, meaning people will still need to isolate for seven days if they test positive for the virus.

There has been 42,740 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the community over the past seven days. The Ministry has also reported a further 64 deaths related to the virus in the past week.

As of midnight last night, 581 people were in hospital with the virus, including 15 in intensive care.

Of today’s reported deaths three were from Northland, 19 were from the Auckland region, seven were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, four were from Lakes, four were from Hawke’s Bay, one was from Taranaki, five were from MidCentral, three were from Whanganui, two were from the Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, ten were from Canterbury, three were from Southern.

One was in their 30s, two were in their 40s, one was in their 50s, five were in their 60s, 12 were in their 70s, 28 were in their 80s and 15 were aged over 90.

Of the new cases in the last week, 12,809 were reinfections.

The seven-day rolling average for new cases recorded each day is now 6,099.

It’s likely to be the worst week of Covid-19 infections in this latest Omicron wave, as people prepare to head off on their Christmas holidays.

Meanwhile, wastewater virus levels are trending upward and preliminary analysis from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) suggests they are still increasing.

ESR’S final wastewater report for the year is due to be released on Friday.

Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall said the country’s settings will remain unchanged following a final review for the year.

“That includes the retention of 7-day mandatory isolation for positive cases, in order to break the chain of transmission and keep cases and hospitalisations at a manageable level.”

Verrall said people eligible for their booster vaccine should get one now and it wasn’t too late for people who haven’t yet had their first or second dose.

Masks, rapid antigen tests, and vaccines could be accessed for free from thousands of locations across the country, she said.

“With many people travelling around the country over the coming weeks, it’s important that everyone plays their part. Get prepared now so we can all have safe as summer,” Verrall said.

Last week 40,098 new cases of Covid-19 in the community were reported and a further 35 deaths related to the virus.

There were 514 people in hospital with the virus, including 14 in intensive care.

As people look forward to their summer breaks, experts have warned holiday hotspots with small health workforces will be the most vulnerable.

College for Emergency Medicine chair Kate Allan told RNZ the populations of places like the Coromandel, Thames, Northland, Queenstown and Wanaka boomed at this time of year.

“So those hospitals are under significant pressure, and if they’re already understaffed, that creates additional issues.”

Taupō Hospital emergency doctor Jeremy Webber said Covid-19 had beaten the holiday hordes to town.

“Last weekend, for example, I saw more Covid-positive patients than I saw in those first waves a few months ago.”

In the lead-up to Christmas, epidemiologist Michael Baker has advised shopping at a quieter time when there were fewer people around to lessen the risk of Covid.

But at the top of his list was wearing a respirator mask such as an N95 at any indoor shopping mall or supermarket.

“We know the virus is more prevalent right now and the more people you share an indoor environment with the higher the risk.

Last week University of Auckland senior lecturer in computational evolution Dr David Welch said with almost 6000 cases per day being reported, between 2 or 3 out of every 100 people in the country were infected.

“We can expect roughly these levels of infection to persist through to Christmas. So at any sizeable gathering of people, there is a high chance that someone will infected and may infect others.

“Therefore it is a good idea to keep a few simple rules in mind to minimise the chances of transmission.”

Welch encouraged people to hold events outside or in well-ventilated venues.

People should wear a mask when travelling on crowned planes or buses, he said.

He also encouraged people to make good use of rapid antigen tests.

“If organising a family event, get everyone to take a RAT test before the event, especially if vulnerable older people are attending. If you are all gathering together from different parts of the country, test for the first few days after travelling.

Finding infections early and getting infected people to isolate could stop the spread, Welch said.