More Omicron in NZ, child with COVID dies

The ministry of health failed to report the death, which was picked up by an eagle-eyed viewer of the minstry's statistics website on Friday.

Upon inquiries, the ministry revealed the child died earlier this week, and was tested for COVID-19 after death as they were a contact of another COVID-19 case.

"The death remains under investigation and has been referred to the coroner," a ministry spokesman said.

New Zealand remains on high alert for the Omicron variant, first identified in the country's quarantine regime in a Christchurch hotel on Thursday.

On Friday night, a further three cases, unlinked to the first, were found while quarantining in Rotorua.

The new cases travelled to Auckland from the UK, Spain and Nigeria, transitting via Dubai.

Authorities believe further Omicron cases may also be present in quarantine hotels.

Three close contacts of NZ's first case, a traveller from Germany, have tested positive for COVID-19, with further testing underway to determine the strain.

In an attempt to ringfence the German case, a wide net of close contacts has been drawn, and additional testing ordered.

Omicron has not yet been found in the community, and Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said an outbreak of Omicron was "by no means inevitable".

"We'll continue to do everything we can to make sure we keep Omicron either out of the country or at the border if it does come on a flight," he told Radio NZ.

The Ministry of Health is poised to recommend a shorter lead-in time for fully vaccinated Kiwis to get a booster shot, in preparation for Omicron's possible arrival.

On Friday, health officials reported 76 community COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, including 47 in Auckland, 15 in the Waikato and 10 in the Bay of Plenty.

There are 51 people in hospital with COVID-19 - most of whom are unvaccinated - and five in intensive care.

Australian Associated Press