Covid cases at 4282 in three-month high

The number of daily Covid-19 cases has risen above 4000 for the first time in three months. Ministry of Health data shows there were 4282 daily cases reported yesterday – the highest single day since August 17, when there were 4622 cases reported. While the ministry moved to releasing only weekly Covid-19 updates from September, it still publishes daily case information online. Covid-19 cases have stabilised in recent days after ‘‘substantially increasing’’ since early October in a ‘‘bump’’ which experts linked to removing restrictions. As of the week ending November 13, there were about 59 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people – a 4% increase from the previous week ending November 6. This is in contrast to a week-on week increase of 25% just a couple of weeks ago. Recent days in which cases crept closer to 4000 include 3913 on November 7 and 3923 on October 25. The Ministry of Health’s latest report, released on Monday with data from the week ending November 6, said the key measures of infection – levels of viral RNA in wastewater and reported case rates – were stabilising. However, the report said it was likely that over the new few weeks cases, hospitalisations and mortality would ‘‘continue to increase to a new peak of the third wave’’.