WELLINGTON – New Zealand has detected nine new Omicron cases in international arrivals, bringing the country's total number of people infected with the new variant to 22, according to the Ministry of Health.

With the exception of one case that has now recovered and been released, all Omicron cases to date have remained in managed isolation. On Monday, 69 new community cases were reported, bringing the country's total number of confirmed cases to 13,495. According to the Ministry of Health, 59 new infections were recorded in Auckland, seven in nearby Waikato, two in Bay of Plenty, and one in Taranaki. A total of 62 patients are being treated in hospitals, with seven of them in intensive care units or high dependency units. The country's Covid death toll currently stands at 49.

Global Covid Watch: The University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed in its latest update on Monday morning that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 274,692,249 and 5,354,148, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 8,680,566,482. According to the CSSE, the United States remains the worst-affected country, with the highest number of cases and deaths (50,846,828 and 806,439).

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