4th wave alert? New Zealand reports 20,907 new community cases of COVID-19

New Zealand reported 20,907 new community cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, said the Ministry of Health in a statement. Among the new community infections, 4,291 were in the largest city Auckland.

The rest of the cases were identified across the nation, including 3,488 in Canterbury, according to the ministry.

In addition, there were 34 new cases of COVID-19 detected at the New Zealand border, said the ministry.

There were 1,016 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including 25 people at the intensive care unit or high dependency unit.

The ministry also reported 15 deaths from COVID-19, taking the total number of publicly reported deaths in the country to 199, it said.

New Zealand has reported 517,495 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

New Zealand is currently at the highest Red settings under the COVID-19 Protection Framework. At Red settings, face masks become mandatory in many indoor environments and gatherings are limited to 100 people.