There are 95 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the community today. 

Two people have died in hospital with Covid. 

One person died at Middlemore Hospital overnight, the Ministry of Health said. The family had requested that no information be publicly provided about this person so the Ministry did not provide any further details, out of respect. 

The second patient who died overnight had been admitted to Auckland City Hospital due to their Covid infection. The case has been referred to the coroner. 

The Ministry expressed its "heartfelt condolences" to both families. 

Earlier today Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield had indicated that Covid-19 case numbers today are under 100 – a "hugely encouraging" number. 

The official numbers will be released after 1pm today, but Bloomfield said the rolling 7-day daily average was now 103 cases – down from 187 two weeks ago. 

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Bloomfield made the announcement during a briefing on Covid-19 treatments. 

Today's update from the Ministry of Health comes as New Zealand completes one week in the traffic light system. 

Yesterday, 103 new cases of Covid-19 in the community were recorded. Of those, 88 were in Auckland, nine in Waikato, five in the Bay of Plenty and one in the Lakes district. 

Seventy people are in hospital, including five in intensive care - all in Auckland and Waikato. Of those in hospital, 37 cases, or 61 per cent, are unvaccinated or not eligible for the vaccine. 

In Auckland, more than 3100 people are isolating at home, including 863 cases. 

As the country edges towards 90 per cent fully vaccinated, many Kiwis have received a third primary dose or the booster dose. 

A total of 19,059 people have had a third primary dose and 132,661 have been given booster doses. 

It comes as the Ōpōtiki District Council is backing calls from iwi leaders to try to block Aucklanders from travelling to the district when the city's boundary relaxes on Wednesday. 

"We are remote, most people are more than three hours from the nearest hospital, and we have a lot of vulnerable and elderly in our communities," Ōpōtiki councillor Louis Rapihana said. 

A person from Ōpōtiki tested positive for Covid, it was announced yesterday. They were outside the region when they received their results and returned to Ōpōtiki to complete required isolation with public health support. 

Rapihana, who is also a member of the iwi response unit for Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, said that with Covid continuing to cause disruption and new variants around the world, the simple message from his iwi was to "stay away". 

"We do have some of the highest vaccination rates in the country and this is thanks to the great effort made by our very small medical team, but keeping people and Covid out is our first and best defence against this virus." 

To leave Auckland, travellers must be either fully vaccinated, or have proof of a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of arriving at the boundary. 

Travel tensions cropped up in the South Island last week as an Air New Zealand flight from Nelson to Christchurch had to sit on the tarmac for half an hour while staff negotiated with two passengers who were refusing to put on masks. 

Flight NZ8857 on Thursday last week eventually departed 30 minutes late with the unmasked pair on board, after staff confirmed they had an exemption. 

Air New Zealand would not confirm how the two people proved they were exempt from having to wear a mask, but the Herald understands they did not have an official Covid vaccination exemption card. 

Air New Zealand's current Covid-19 policy states that face masks or coverings are required on all flights in all traffic light levels.