There are1483 new cases of Covid-19 today and nine new virus-related deaths, the Ministry of Health reports.

There are 243 cases in hospital, including five in ICU.

The nine deaths includes four people were in their 80s and five aged over 90.

Five people were from Auckland , one was from Waikato, one was from Bay of Plenty, one was from Hawke's Bay and one was from Wellington.

The numbers come as New Zealand could soon be ditching Covid-19 restrictions as infection and hospitalisation rates are the lowest they've been in seven months.

Yesterday, there were 1653 new community cases of the virus. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers was down from last Thursday's 2023 to 1595 today.

There were 254 fighting Covid-19 in hospital, including seven in intensive care.

A further 12 virus-related deaths was reported yesterday. .

Of those 12 deaths, two were from the Auckland, two were from Waikato, one was from MidCentral, one was from the Wellington region, two were from Nelson Marlborough, three were from Canterbury, one was from South Canterbury.

Two were in their 50s, one was in their 60s, three were in their 70s, two were in their 80s and four were aged over 90. Of these people, 10 were women and two were men.

As of yesterday, there was a total of 1941 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor.

There were 11,158 active cases in the community, of yesterday's cases, 89 had recently travelled overseas.

The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations is 259, last Thursday it was 319.

Those is hospital are in Northland: 2; Waitematā: 53; Counties Manukau: 41; Auckland: 42; Waikato: 26; Bay of Plenty: 1; Lakes: 4; Hawke's Bay: 1; MidCentral: 7; Whanganui: 2; Taranaki: 0; Tairawhiti: 0; Wairarapa: 3; Capital & Coast: 12; Hutt Valley: 10; Nelson Marlborough: 3; Canterbury: 37; West Coast: 2; South Canterbury: 3; Southern: 5.

The average age of those in hospital with the virus is 60.

Ministry of Health deputy director-general Dr Andrew Old said in a press conference on Wednesday that the seven-day rolling average of cases continued to drop, down 27 per cent from a week ago, and hospitalisations are down 29 per cent.

The latest evidence shows "real and sustained evidence of Covid-19 declining in our community".

The number of deaths for people with Covid-19 was also declining, Old said.

"Although those trends are really encouraging it's important to remember that every death related to Covid-19 is heartbreaking."

The Government would decide on Monday whether to scrap the whole traffic light system and other Covid-19 orders.

If it goes ahead, it would come into effect as soon as next Wednesday – when the main legal instrument under which the Covid-19 orders are issued will expire if Cabinet decides not to renew it.