There have been 5656 new community cases of Covid-19 and six further deaths reported today, with New Zealand also recording its first case of the BA.4 variant of Omicron.

The seven-day rolling average of case numbers today is 7414, down from 8435 a week ago.

In today's statement the Ministry of Health said there were 466 people in hospital, down slightly from 468 yesterday, with 16 people in intensive care.

It said a person who travelled from overseas to New Zealand has been confirmed as having the BA.4 variant of Omicron - the first known detection of the variant in New Zealand.

"The person arrived in New Zealand from South Africa on 22 April, returned a positive RAT the following day and a positive PCR test on 24 April.

Whole genome sequencing was undertaken as part of ongoing border surveillance for emerging variants and subsequently confirmed the BA.4

variant.

"The person followed all testing and reporting requirements, allowing this new sub-variant to be identified quickly, and has been isolating at home."

The Ministry said the BA.4 has been reported in Southern Africa and Europe, and a case was reported in New South Wales a few days ago.

"The arrival of this sub-variant in New Zealand is not unexpected. At this stage, the public health settings already in place to manage other Omicron

variants are assessed to be appropriate for managing BA.4 and no changes are required."

The Ministry said there was no evidence to date that BA.4 is more transmissible or causes more severe disease than other Omicron lineages, such

as the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant that was causing the "vast majority" of infections in New Zealand.

"It can take weeks or months to identify the severity of each new variant or sub-variant, so the Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the emerging

evidence closely."

Two other sub-variants of Omicron - the BA.2.12.1 and the BA 2.12.2 - have also been detected in two returnees for the first time in New Zealand

from travellers arriving on 11 and 15 April. The Ministry said neither sub-variant was currently regarded as being of concern.

Deaths and cases

The six new deaths reported today include four women and two men. Three were in their 70s and three were in their 80s. One person was from Northland, one from Taranaki, two were from Waikato, and two from Canterbury.

These deaths take New Zealand's total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 750.

Today's cases were reported in the Northland (139), Auckland (606), Waikato (341), Bay of Plenty (175), Lakes (116), Hawke's Bay (149), MidCentral

(202), Whanganui (64), Taranaki (149), Tairāwhiti (99), Wairarapa (58), Capital and Coast (360), Hutt Valley (152), Nelson Marlborough (222),

Canterbury (931), South Canterbury (118), Southern (625) and West Coast DHBs.

The Ministry said 62 cases were also identified at the border.

There were seven deaths of people with Covid-19 and 7043 more community cases identified yesterday.

There have now been 933,464 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.