New Zealand hits Covid case record but Ardern says ‘better times coming’

200 daily cases for the first time as PM says it is on track to have amongst the highest vaccination rates in the world'

New Zealand has passed 200 daily cases of Covid-19 for the first time in the pandemic, placing it on a worrying trajectory for the summer and raising expert concerns that the growing outbreak could overwhelm the health system.

On Saturday there were 206 cases announced - 200 based in Auckland, the city at the centre of the outbreak. There were 73 people in hospital with the virus, seven in intensive care.