New Zealand reports 23 new Covid cases

Wellington, Sep 12 New Zealand reported 23 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, of which 20 were community infections, the Ministry of Health said.

The rest of the three caseswere identified at the border, Director-General of the Ministry Ashley Bloomfield told reporters here.

The number of community cases in the recent Delta variant Covid-19 community outbreak in New Zealand reached 922 905 in Auckland and 17 in Wellington, the Ministry said.

There were currently 18 cases being treated in hospitals including four in the intensive care unit, it added.

The country has recorded 3,913 confirmed cases since the pandemic began early last year, with a total of 27 deaths.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced an additional vaccines purchase agreement with Denmark at Sunday's press conference.

The government has secured an extra half a million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines from Denmark that will start arriving in New Zealand within days, said Ardern.

"These doses along with the 275,000 doses purchased from Spain last week provide an additional 775,000 to New Zealand's vaccine supplies," she added.

The extra vaccine supply will help the country keep the momentum of the vaccine rollout.

Ardern also encouraged everyone in New Zealand above the age of 12 to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

New Zealand's largest city Auckland is under the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown.

The rest of the country is under Level 2 restrictions with indoor activities limited to 50 people.

The cabinet will make a decision on potential Alert Level changes on Monday.