By RNZ

There were 12,277 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand in the week to midnight on Sunday and a further 30 deaths.

The 30 people added to the Covid-19 death tally brings the total number of deaths from the disease to 2792.

The number of people with the virus in hospital was 249 with 12 in intensive care.

Last week 11,063 new cases of Covid-19 were reported and a further 26 deaths were attributed to the virus.

The World Health Organisation has declared that Covid-19 no longer represents a “global health emergency”.

The organisation said the virus was now an established and ongoing health issue that no longer constituted a public health emergency of international concern.

WHO head Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the official estimate was that at least seven million people died in the pandemic but the true figure was likely closer to 20m deaths and he warned that the virus remained a significant threat.

New Zealand epidemiologist Michael Baker said the WHO decision was the right move and global status change made sense at this stage but it made no practical difference to how countries managed the infection.