There are 15,871 new community Covid cases today and 13 new deaths. 

There are 899 people in hospital with 27 of them in intensive care. 

Dr Andrew Old, NRHCC Chief Clinical Officer, The Fono's chief executive officer Tevita Funaki, Southseas' chief executive Lemalu Silao Vaisola and Southpoint Family Doctors' Dr Fiona Shepherd are giving an update at Mangere's Malaeola Community Centre. 

Old said case numbers had declined consistently for two weeks in Auckland and are a third of what they were at the peak of the outbreak. 

New hospital admissions were falling but still around 100 people per day were being admitted in the northern regions. 

Old said people should enjoy the weekend but continue wearing masks, stay home if sick and get a test, and report that test result. 

"With greater mixing comes greater risk," Old said. 

We are all interconnected - so while people were out there making decisions for themselves, Old urged people to think of those more vulnerable. 

The numbers 

Of the 13 deaths, four people are from the Auckland region, one is from Bay of Plenty, one is from Waikato, one is from the Hawke's Bay, one is from Taranaki, one is from MidCentral, and four are from the Wellington region. 

One of the people to die was in their 30s, three were in their 60s, five were in their 70s, three were in their 80s, and one was in their 90s. Eight were men and five were women. 

Old said 2981 of today's cases were in Auckland, 510 people are hospitalised with the virus in the region and 11 people are in ICU in Auckland. 

The spread of the new cases are: Northland (558), Auckland (2,982), Waikato (1,432), Bay of Plenty (1,024), Lakes (420), Hawke's Bay (873), MidCentral (814), Whanganui (330), Taranaki (591), Tairāwhiti (224), Wairarapa (251), Capital and Coast (1,063), Hutt Valley (567), Nelson Marlborough (519), Canterbury (2,659), South Canterbury (251), Southern (1245), West Coast (59); Unknown (9) 

Yesterday 

Yesterday, there were 18,423 new Covid cases - a drop from the more than 20,000 cases recorded on both Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Yesterday there were 11 new deaths, and 913 people were in hospital, 28 of them in intensive care units. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the deaths took the total number of publicly reported deaths with Covid-19 to 221, and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths to 10. 

Of the 11 deaths, two people were from the Auckland region, two from Bay of Plenty, six from Waikato, and one from the Wellington region. Six were men and five were women. 

The ministry urged people to continue to get vaccinated against the virus. 

"Every hospitalisation is a reminder of the importance of getting vaccinated to prevent severe illness from Covid-19. There is a much lower risk of being hospitalised if you are up to date with your vaccinations, which for Omicron includes a third or booster dose." 

Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the uptake of vaccinations had been "as high as I might have aspired to and higher than I might have expected". 

He said regarding vaccine hesitancy, monthly surveys had been occurring since late 2020 and they had been monitored throughout. 

Specifically, with the vaccination for children, parents and guardians did have specific issues around safety that they are wanting to make sure of. 

This explained the slower uptake around tamariki, he said. 

"I think what we have done is turn vaccine hesitancy into high vaccination rates, he said. 

"We have learnt a lot and, given what we were facing, the levels of vaccine uptake was remarkable." 

High vaccination coverage and widespread Covid infection had paved the way for the Government to remove vaccine mandates in education, police and Defence workforces and the need for businesses to use vaccine passes from April 4. 

They would still be required in health and aged care, Corrections and border workforces, as announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern this week. 

Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes said the public sector was in a good position because of high vaccination rates and mandates for some agencies. 

But he added potentially rehiring workers let go because of vaccine mandates was "a matter for each agency chief executive to consider". 

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) said an assessment of its Covid protocols and guidance, including its vaccination policy, was under way in light of the Government's announcement. 

Oranga Tamariki also said its vaccination policy was currently under review and would consider the impending removal of some mandates. 

Employment lawyer Jordan Boyle, from Dyhrberg Drayton, said people who lost their jobs for refusing a vaccine did not have any legal recourse to get their jobs back as many mandates were soon to be removed. 

"As soon as the employment relationship is terminated, any obligation that the employer has to the employee doesn't exist," Boyle said. 

However, he explained, it was different for those still working out notice periods. 

"There are still good faith obligations between the parties and obviously any substantive justification for the dismissal no longer exists in theory, once the mandates are no longer applicable."