Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand (2022)

The following is a timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand during 2022.

Transmission timeline Data about the previous day is extracted from the Institute of Environmental Science and Research's database at 9:00 am daily and is publicly released by the Ministry of Health around 1:00 pm.

NB: Clicking on any of the years at the top of the table brings you to Timeline of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand (2022)

January

Date Cases Recoveries Deaths Active cases Sources New Total New Total New Total Border Community Other Total 1 - - - - - - - - - - No Update2 137 14,255 25 13,044 0 51 135 1,025 0 1,160 3 51 14,306 73 13,117 0 51 150 988 0 1,138 4 60 14,365 54 13,171 0 51 176 967 0 1,143 5 40 14,405 81 13,252 0 51 185 917 0 1,102 6 62 14,467 83 13,335 0 51 226 855 0 1,081 7 59 14,525 71 13,406 0 51 248 820 0 1,068 8 - - - - - - - - - - No update9 77 14,673 60 13,535 0 51 294 793 0 1,087 10 60 14,733 74 13,609 0 51 314 759 0 1,073 11 23 14,756 45 13,654 0 51 322 729 0 1,051 12 93 14,848 80 13,734 1 52 385 677 0 1,062 13 41 14,887 66 13,800 0 52 396 639 0 1,035 14 61 14,947 42 13,844 0 52 433 618 0 1,051 15 54 15,001 98 13,944 0 52 433 572 0 1,005 16 68 15,069 48 13,992 0 52 471 554 0 1,025 17 58 15,127 59 14,051 0 52 479 545 0 1,024 18 44 15,170 39 14,090 0 52 499 529 0 1,028 19 80 15,249 81 14,171 0 52 519 507 0 1,026 20 85 15,334 74 14,245 0 52 525 512 0 1,037 21 67 15,401 54 14,300 0 52 561 468 0 1,049 22 84 15,479 58 14,359 0 52 590 478 0 1,068 23 71 15,550 43 14,402 0 52 630 466 0 1,096 24 75 15,250 38 14,440 0 52 666 467 0 1,133 25 62 15,687 31 1,4471 0 52 694 470 0 1,164 26 59 15,745 32 14,503 0 52 709 481 0 1,190 27 96 15,842 46 14,549 0 52 734 507 0 1,241 28 150 15,991 70 14,619 0 52 753 567 0 1,320 29 155 16,146 70 14,689 0 52 775 630 0 1,405 30 140 16,286 48 14,737 0 52 787 710 0 1,497 31 130 16,416 73 14,810 1 53 783 770 0 1,553

On 2 January, two new deaths were reported at Auckland City Hospital within the past 48 hours.

On 8 January, two new locations of interests were identified in Rotorua including a Burger Fuel restaurant and BP Connection petrol station.

On 10 January, two new locations of interests were identified in Queenstown including a SkyCity casino.

On 12 January, the Ministry of Health reported two new deaths. These fatalities included a man in his 30s who died at home on 5 January and a man in his 60s who died at Middlemore Hospital on 9 January.

On 19 January, health authorities confirmed that two COVID-19 positive individuals in Auckland (an Auckland Airport worker and a household contact of an MIQ worker) had the Omicron variant.

By 20 January, the Hawke's Bay region had reported a total of six cases in the region, five of them linked to a positive case who visited a fitness class.

On 21 January, nine cases were reported in Motueka in the Nelson–Marlborough Region.

By 22 January, the number of cases in Hastings had risen to 13.

On 27 January, 34 new Omicron cases were reported, bringing the total number of Omicron community cases to 90. That same day, the Soundsplash music festival which took place in Hamilton between 21 and 23 January was identified as a location of interest. Five attendees had tested positive for COVID-19, with one testing positive for the Omicron variant. By 28 January, 68 people were considered close contacts of the infected, with health experts warning that the Soundsplash festival could become a superspreader event.

On 28 January, 15 new Omicron cases were reported, bringing the total number of Omicron community cases to 105.

On 30 January, the Health Ministry confirmed that a patient in their 70s at North Shore Hospital had died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 53. Due to technical issues, the Health Ministry had not included 40 new cases in Auckland for the daily report.

February

Date Cases Recoveries Deaths Active cases Sources New Total New Total New Total Border Community Other Total 1 205 16,620 55 14,865 0 53 826 876 0 1,702 2 196 16,816 64 14,929 0 53 841 994 0 1,835 3 191 17,005 49 14,978 0 53 853 1,121 0 1,974 4 273 17,278 67 15,045 0 53 881 1,298 0 2,179 5 269 17,546 60 15,105 0 53 876 1,512 0 2,388 6 227 17,773 96 15,201 0 53 833 1,686 0 2,519 7 215 17,988 27 15,228 0 53 842 1,865 0 2,707 8 265 18,253 92 15,320 0 53 832 2,048 0 2,880 9 250 18,503 95 15,415 0 53 826 2,209 0 3,035 10 336 18,337 84 15,499 0 53 815 2,470 0 3,295 11 478 19,313 101 15,600 0 53 786 2,874 0 3,660 12 466 19,777 65 15,665 0 53 756 3,303 0 4,059 13 835 20,228 - - - - - - - - 14 1,796 21,573 199 15,864 0 53 696 4,690 0 5,696 15 763 22,328 102 15,966 0 53 673 5,636 0 6,309 16 1,203 23,509 125 16,091 0 53 644 6,721 0 7,365 17 1,588 25,050 172 16,263 0 53 587 8,147 0 8,734 18 1,947 26,935 207 16,470 0 53 538 9,874 0 10,412 19 1,915 28,751 136 16,606 0 53 491 11,601 0 12,092 20 2,539 31,087 169 16,775 0 53 474 13,785 0 14,259 21 2,377 33,317 118 16,893 0 53 443 15,928 0 16,371 22 2,860 36,162 187 17,080 3 56 401 18,625 0 19,026 23 3,305 39,345 187 17,267 0 53 374 21,648 0 22,022 24 6,145 45,473 201 17,648 0 56 338 27,611 0 27,949 25 12,030 57,497 253 17,721 0 56 325 39,395 0 39,720 26 13,612 71,122 226 17,947 0 56 311 52,808 0 53,119 27 14,892 86,138 167 18,114 0 56 336 67,631 0 67,968 28 14,657 100,821 218 18,332 0 56 327 82,105 0 82,433

On 4 February, New Zealand reported a record 209 new community: 21 in Northland, 99 in the Auckland Region, 51 in Waikato, 15 in Rotorua, 15 in Bay of Plenty, three in Hawke's Bay, four in Tairāwhiti and one in MidCentral. In addition, 64 cases were reported in managed isolation.

On 7 February, several schools reported positive cases among students and staff including Te Mata Primary School (four students) in Hastings' Havelock North suburb, Hamilton Boys' High School (one student), Hamilton Christian School (one student), Rototuna Junior and Senior High School (one student), Melville Intermediate School (one student) and Prospect School (one staff member) in Auckland's Glen Eden suburb.

On 10 February, Queenstown in the South Island's Otago region reported two community cases. These mark the first new community cases in the Southern District Health Board since 17 April 2020. That same day, two students at Ilminister Intermediate School in Gisborne in the North Island tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, half the school and seven teachers were into self-isolation. Later that day, a community case was reported in Dunedin. The individual had spent time in Wānaka and Cromwell during their infectious period.

On 11 February, two community cases were reported in Invercargill and Gore, New Zealand in the South Island's Southland Region. Both cases had previously visited the Queenstown area.

On 12 February, six staff and seven patients at Auckland City Hospital tested positive for COVID-19. In response, all patients and two staff at two wards for the elderly were ordered to undergo testing.

On 13 February, a positive case was reported at Musselburgh School in Dunedin. In response, all Year 5 and Year 6 students at the school were identified as close contacts with families being asked to get their children tested.

On 14 February, 19 cases were reported in Otago and Southland, bringing the total number of cases in the Southern District Health Board to 51.

On 15 February, a student at Gore Main School tested positive for COVID-19; prompting 25 other students, three teachers, and two teacher aides to go into self-isolation. In addition, Gore Preschool was closed as a precaution after a visitor tested positive for COVID-19.

On 17 February, Public Health South and the University of Otago confirmed that two parties held on Castle Street and Hyde Street between 12 and 15 February during Orientation Week were close contact sites. Students who attended the parties were advised by health authorities to get tested. Though the University advised all students attending the party to get tested, confusion emerged when local health providers including WellSouth opted to only test individuals who were symptomatic or close contacts.

By 18 February, several Dunedin schools including Carisbrook School, Bradford School, Balmacewen Intermediate School, Otago Boys' High School, Columba College, and Queenstown's Wakatipu High School had reported positive cases.

On 21 February, two new deaths were reported in Auckland. One was a patient at Middlemore Hospital while the other was a patient in their 70s at Auckland City Hospital.

On 22 February, a Dunedin pathology worker at Southern Community Laboratory tested positive for COVID-19. That same day, King's and Queen's High Schools in Dunedin also reported positive cases.

From 24 February, RATs are now included in the daily tally separate from PCR tests. In addition, health authorities confirmed the death of another patient at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland. That same day, the Convoy 2022 New Zealand's Wellington protest camp was identified by the Health Ministry as a "location of interest." People present the occupation between 11.55am and 11pm on 19 February and 11am and 11.59pm on 20 February were considered close contacts.

On 25 February, five new deaths were reported in hospital, bringing the death toll to 62. Two were from Auckland's North Shore Hospital, two from Waikato and one from Tauranga.

On 28 February, David Parker tested positive for COVID-19, become the first New Zealand Member of Parliament to test positive for the disease.

March

Date Cases Recoveries Deaths Active cases Sources New Total New Total New Total Border Community Other Total 1 19,588 118,812 281 18,613 0 56 283 99,859 0 100,143 2 22,160 142,321 135 18,748 0 56 276 123,836 0 124,114 3 23,194 166,098 515 19,263 0 56 252 146,527 0 146,779 4 22,535 188,680 16,875 36,138 7 63 126 152,353 0 152,479 5 18,840 207,562 3,442 39,580 0 63 126 167,793 0 167,919 6 15,162 222,767 3,586 43,166 2 65 123 179,413 0 179,536 7 17,582 240,319 4,480 47,646 0 65 116 192,492 0 192,608 8 23,913 264,255 23,965 71,611 0 65 127 192,452 0 192,579 9 22,466 286,750 12,817 84,428 0 65 116 202,141 0 202,257 10 21,030 307,803 14,560 98,988 - 91 110 208,624 0 208,734 11 21,012 328,836 19,895 118,883 5 98 113 209,754 0 209,867 12 18,715 347,576 22,195 141,078 7 105 121 206,284 0 206,405 13 14,516 362,109 23,543 164,621 8 113 136 197,251 0 197,387 14 15,562 377,685 22,495 187,116 1 114 147 190,320 0 190,467 15 21,633 399,342 18,859 205,975 1 115 157 193,108 0 193,265 16 19,487 418,861 15,109 221,084 22 141 188 197,464 0 197,652 17 19,591 438,452 17,411 238,495 10 151 207 199,640 0 199,847 18 14,148 452,600 90,170 328,665 3 156 156 123,711 0 123,867 19 18,559 471,225 18,751 347,416 6 164 186 123,479 0 123,665 20 12,046 483,222 14,521 361,937 7 175 193 120,941 0 121,134 21 14,495 497,731 15,572 377,509 12 184 203 119,856 0 120,059 22 20,941 518,685 21,653 399,162 14 199 220 119,126 0 119,346 23 20,130 538,839 19,504 418,666 7 210 224 119,756 0 119,989 24 18,467 557,330 19,603 438,269 8 221 243 118,626 0 118,869 25 15,900 573,230 14,149 452,418 9 234 255 120,370 0 120,625 26 14,212 587,467 15,995 468,413 16 254 252 118,585 0 118,837 27 10,272 597,745 14,598 483,011 6 258 255 114,256 0 114,511 28 12,934 610,687 14,469 497,480 8 269 277 112,699 0 112,976 29 17,192 627,898 20,925 518405 35 303 291 108,936 0 109,227 30 15,966 643,875 20,127 538,532 12 317 296 104,769 0 105,065 31 15,289 659,175 18,469 557,001 20 338 288 101,587 0 101,875

On 6 March, the Chatham Islands recorded its first two cases of COVID-19. In response, the Canterbury District Health Board distributed rapid antigen kits to all households residing on the islands.

On 7 March, four Members of Parliament including National Party MP Simon Bridges, Police Minister Poto Williams, Attorney General David Parker, and Labour Party MP Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki tested positive for COVID-19. In addition, Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi entered into isolation after his family tested positive.