Covid 19

As China battles a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases, there are growing reports that it's getting harder and harder to bury the dead.

Jacinda Ardern says while the number of cases and hospitalisations is serious, the health system is better able to cope now than before.

Analysis - With the year drawing to a close, the sounds that seem to sum up the season are less jingling bells and carols, more the cough of Covid-19 and an enormous, exhausted sigh of relief, Tim…

The pre-Christmas period puts New Zealanders at high risk of exposure to Covid-19. Even at small gatherings of 10 people, the probability someone has the virus has increased from 2-3 percent to about…

Covid-19 vaccination rates have plateaued since September, with about 64,000 given out each month at the moment.

A possible peak in the number of people in hospital could be driven by older people getting the virus for the first time. Audio

Our emergency departments are already bursting at the seams, Auckland City Hospital surgeon Li Hsee says. Audio

The Ministry of Health says BA.2.75 looks like it is more transmissible and can evade immunity from other variants but more data is needed to be certain.

There have been 42,740 new cases of Covid-19 and 64 deaths of people with the virus over the past week, the Ministry of Health has announced.

Healthcare professionals in holiday hotspots are bracing for an influx of Covid-19 patients, with one modeller warning Christmas week could see one-in-20 people infected.

A top Chinese health official says he believes China is experiencing the first of three expected waves of Covid infections this winter.

Beijing funeral homes and crematoriums are busy after Covid restrictions were relaxed - but officials are yet to report any deaths since 7 December.

China's abrupt lifting of stringent Covid-19 restrictions could result in an explosion of cases and over a million deaths through 2023.

Colleagues were so alarmed they wrote an open letter and left it lying around the office.

Health experts are urging people who have not yet had the booster shots they're eligible for to get them now as cases surge heading into the festive season. Audio

Only 43 percent of people over 50 have had a second booster, despite being most at risk from the virus.