There are 9809 new community cases of Covid-19 in the country in the last week, the Ministry of Health is reporting.

There have been 54 virus-related deaths in that time.

One of those who died was less than 10 years old, one was in their 30s, two were in their 40s, two were in their 50s, seven were in their 60s, 11 were in their 70s, 16 were in their 80s and 14 were aged over 90. Of these people, 24 were women and 30 were men.

Of the deaths being reported today, 12 were from the Auckland region, five were from Waikato, three were from Bay of Plenty, two were from Lakes, one was from Tairawhiti, two were from Hawke's Bay, one was from Taranaki, four were from MidCentral, three were from Wellington region, two were from Nelson Marlborough, nine were from Canterbury, three were from South Canterbury and six were from Southern.

There were also 166 people in hospital with the virus, including eight in ICU.

Last week Ministry of Health Deputy Director-General Dr Andrew Old said case numbers were continuing to decline but "Covid is not going away".

Some secondary school principals are warning that many Year 13 students are doing badly this year.

They say the cumulative effect of two-and-a-half years of pandemic disruption has taken a heavy toll on many teenagers' achievement and motivation.

Schools are trying to find extra teachers and tutors so they can spend their share of $20 million for catch-up learning.