New Zealand’s COVID-19 Minister has told Kiwis they need to “hold their nerve” after a major jump in community COVID-19 cases to 45.

Chris Hipkins said the jump from eight on Tuesday to 45 on Wednesday was “sobering”, but wouldn’t change NZ’s elimination strategy.

“We have seen blips alrady in this outbreak … and it’s gone down again,” he said.

“We’ve still got to hold our nerve here … we’re still pursuing COVID-19. We’re still aiming to run it into the ground.” 

The new cases comprise New Zealand’s highest daily figure since September 2.

“While the overall number today is obviously a lot higher, it is important to note many of these cases are linked to existing cases and in some sense, they were expected,” Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said.

“What’s even more important is that we found these cases because people came forward and were tested.”

All of the 45 cases were found in Auckland, with 33 known to be close or household contacts of existing cases.

Interviews are underway with the 12 cases yet to be linked back to the outbreak.

Dr Bloomfield said 12 of the cases came from just two families, and a number of other cases were from transitional or emergency housing.

On Wednesday, around 1.7 million Aucklanders entered their seventh straight week of lockdown to fight the Delta outbreak.

Auckland shifted from a tough alert level four lockdown to a level three lockdown, which allows for more business and in-person education, one week ago.

Dr Bloomfield urged employers of essential workers to allow their staff members to “get vaccinated today”.

“Now that Auckland is at alert level three, some of our cases today may have been working at essential or permitted businesses during their infectious periods,” he said.

“This emphasises the importance of everyone in Auckland abiding by alert level three measures. They are there for a reason.”

The total outbreak has now seen 1,230 people infected since the identification of the first case on August 17.

Health officials report 16 Kiwis in hospital with COVID-19, including three in intensive care units.

AAP

Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.