New Zealand

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said there are 84 people in hospital, including 10 in intensive care.

There were no new cases at the border.

The ministry said 81 of today's cases are yet to be linked. There are 713 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

The 25 new cases in Waikato include 15 who are known close contacts from a single household in Hamilton, where an earlier case had been confirmed and is already in isolation.

Eighteen of the 25 new cases have been linked.

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said 78 of today's cases are yet to be linked, and there are 645 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

It said 109 of today's cases were in Auckland, with three in Waikato and one in Northland.

There are 74 people in hospital, including five in intensive care. All are in Auckland and the average age is 51.

Today's figures are almost half the record 206 cases recorded yesterday.

There was also one new case detected at the border.

One-way travel with low-risk Pacific countries resumes on November 8 from the three islands and Tokelau, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced last week.

Travellers from those nations will be able to bypass spending 14 days at a managed isolation and quarantine facility.

All travellers, New Zealand citizens, and NZ resident or visa critical purpose visa holders, would need to have stayed 14 days in their countries before departure and aren’t required to provide a pre-departure test.

They must be fully vaccinated, unless they are New Zealand citizens.

Donna and Colin Craig-Brown of Ngāhinapōuri have named their 7.9-kilogram potato 'Doug'.

The Craig-Browns had no intention of growing a large potato, Colin tells Jesse Mulligan. Doug was just "one of nature's pleasant surprises".

"I had no idea he was growing there and I don't know how long he was there because I was walking over top of him all last cucumber season.

"It's just one of life's happy little moments, you know? Mother Nature has just bestowed this glory upon us."

The person arrived two weeks ago, and tested positive for the virus once in New Zealand.

They are staying in managed isolation in Auckland.

The tiny island nation has not had any previously reported cases of Covid-19.

About 14,000 people live across the Tuvalu archipelago, and UN data shows that 12,114 Covid-19 vaccine doses have been administered there.

The New Zealand Ministry of Health said this case was one of three new incoming border cases that were reported yesterday.

Another 126 community cases were also reported in New Zealand yesterday.

There were also five cases reported in managed isolation.

There was no media conference. In a statement, the Health Ministry said 46 of the cases are unlinked. There are now 287 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

There are 50 people in hospital, including four people in intensive care. The Ministry said the average age of those in hospital is 44.

Yesterday the Ministry of Health reported 104 community cases of Covid-19.

The two new cases in Waikato - one in Te Awamutu and one in Hamilton - remain unlinked, along with five other cases in the region.

The case flew from Rotorua and arrived in Blenheim on Thursday. They were tested upon arrival after developing a sore throat.

"The initial test, including a follow-up swab, returned a weak positive result."

The ministry said the case is now isolating awaiting the results of further testing.

The case is considered low risk, due to their likely late stage of infection.

The ministry said initial case interviews suggested the case was linked to the Te Awamutu cluster.

The Ministry of Health said 94 of the cases were in Auckland and eight in Waikato. Thirty of the cases are household contacts.

Forty of the new cases remain unlinked and there are 199 unlinked cases in the past 14 days.

There were 60 new community cases yesterday.

All of the Waikato cases were in the Te Awamutu area, the ministry said. Seven had already been linked to known cases.

One of the Waikato cases travelled to Hawke's Bay last Friday, but returned to Te Awamutu before testing positive.

After placing her hand on the Bible as requested by chief justice Helen Winkelmann, Dame Cindy recited the oaths of office in both English and Māori.

She is the first wāhine Māori to hold the position, and is of Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Kahu and British descent.

Dame Cindy was born in Whangārei in 1958 and is the eldest of six children.

She was most recently the chief executive of the Royal Society - Te Apārangi, has been a Children's Commissioner and Pro-Vice-Chancellor Māori at the University of Auckland.

The 2022 schedule was announced on Tuesday with the series to kick off with a pair of men’s and women’s rounds in Dubai starting in November.

But while Hong Kong returns as a stop, Sydney and Hamilton (New Zealand) have missed out because of its stringent pandemic protocols.

Instead, Spain will play host for the first time with men’s and women’s events scheduled in Malaga and Seville from January 21-23 and January 28-30.

Toulouse in France will also welcome teams in May next year.