There are 9809 new community cases of Covid-19 in the country today.

There have been 54 virus-related deaths in that time.

One of those who died was less than 10 years old, one was in their 30s, two were in their 40s, two were in their 50s, seven were in their 60s, 11 were in their 70s, 16 were in their 80s and 14 were aged over 90. Of these people, 24 were women and 30 were men.

There were also 166 people in hospital with the virus, including eight in ICU.

Last week Ministry of Health Deputy Director-General Dr Andrew Old said case numbers were continuing to decline but "Covid is not going away".

Some secondary school principals are warning that many Year 13 students are doing badly this year.

They say the cumulative effect of two-and-a-half years of pandemic disruption has taken a heavy toll on many teenagers' achievement and motivation.

Schools are trying to find extra teachers and tutors so they can spend their share of $20 million for catch-up learning.

More to come...

-RNZ.