Cases of Covid-19 in the Southern District are on the rise, following the announcement by health officials that the country is entering its ninth wave of the virus.

In the past week there has been 27 cases of Covid-19 reported in the south, with 92 in the last 30 days.

Similar numbers have been reported in Canterbury, with 23 new cases in the past week and 94 in the last month.

Ninth wave of Covid-19

Up north, Counties/Manukau has reported 47 new cases over seven days and 170 in the past month.

The new findings have come from wastewater testing which covers about 60% to 70% of New Zealand’s population and provides reliable trend data which doesn’t depend on people testing and self-reporting cases.

Professor Michael Baker told media that the current wave has not peaked yet and hospitalisations could continue rising for a couple of months before declining again.

But RAT tests are no longer paid for by the Government, and experts say this could be a problem, because not as many people will be testing when they have symptoms.

Boosters have remained available for anyone over the aged of 30 every six months, but the uptake has been low.

Last week only 1302 people received their third booster across New Zealand, and 59 received their second booster.

Overall statistics show more people are having boosters in the over 65 age group, with 71.9% having received their second shot.

Only 19.9% of those 30-34 have received their second booster, 21.9% of 35-49 year olds and 39.8% of those 50-64.

Looking back at the data historically, total hospitalisations across the country dropped from a peak of more than 22,000 in 2022 to about 9000 in 2024 (a 60 percent decline).

See Te Whatu Ora reporting here