New Zealand, once Covid-free, tops 1 million cases since pandemic began

Figure means 20% of population has been infected with Covid but modellers say true number is likely three times higher

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New Zealand has recorded more than 1m cases of Covid-19, after spending the first 18 months of the pandemic largely free of the virus.

The milestone reflects a stark change in New Zealand's pandemic experience, with more than 986,000 of those cases hitting in the months since the start of 2022. The country has had a huge spike in cases since Omicron breached the borders in December 2021, and the government loosened most restrictions in March.