Wellington, Mar 9 (IANS): New Zealand reported 22,454 new community cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Among the new community infections, 8,529 were in the largest city Auckland. Twelve new cases of Covid-19 were detected at the New Zealand border, the Ministry added.

At present, there are 742 Covid-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals, including 19 people in intensive care units or high dependency units, according to the Ministry.

New Zealand has reported 285,906 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 202,141 cases, identified in the past 10 days and not yet classified as recovered, Xinhua news agency reported.

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

Meanwhile, Minister for Covid-19 Response Chris Hipkins said the isolation period for Covid-19 cases and their household contacts will be reduced from 10 to seven days.

There needs to be a balance between effectively controlling the outbreak and the flow-on effect for business and essential goods and services such as transport and food supply, Hipkins added.

"The most up to date public health advice is that there is a decline in infectiousness of Omicron over time, and that in most cases transmission occurs within seven days," he said, adding that the change will come into effect from 11:59 p.m. on March 11.

New Zealanders awaiting the arrival of Novavax vaccines to get vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to make an appointment online or by phone from Thursday, Hipkins said.

"While the Pfizer vaccine remains the preferred Covid-19 vaccine in New Zealand, Novavax is now available for those people who would prefer or require an alternative," the Minister added.