New Zealand logs 40,098 new COVID-19 community cases over past week

WELLINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand recorded 40,098 new community cases of COVID-19 and 35 more deaths from the pandemic over the past week, the country's Ministry of Health said on Monday.

On average, new cases per day reached 5,721 in the last week. The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide in early July.

With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 2,019,685 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,257 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.

Currently, 514 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals in the country, including 14 in intensive care units or high dependency units, according to official data.