There are 53 new cases of Covid-19 linked to the Delta community outbreak, bringing the total number of cases to 562.
The Ministry of Health gave the update in a statement on Monday, ahead of a Cabinet decision later on alert levels, due to be announced at 4pm.
The total number of community cases in Auckland is now 547, and there are 15 cases in Wellington.
Of the community cases, 37 are in hospital, including five in a stable condition in intensive care.
There is also one new case and one historical case of Covid-19 in recent returnees in managed isolation.
All positive cases have been, or are being, transferred to a quarantine facility.
Of the total cluster, 522 cases have been epidemiologically linked to existing cases, and investigations are ongoing for a further 42 cases.
Seven sub-clusters have been identified within the Delta variant outbreak.
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The two largest clusters are the Birkdale Social Network cluster associated with Case A, a Devonport man whose positive test sent the country into a level 4 lockdown.
There are 79 confirmed cases in that sub-cluster, and 280 confirmed cases in the Māngere church sub-cluster.
The Crown's scientific research arm, ESR, has now run whole genome sequencing on samples taken from around 345 community cases.
Analysis of these samples has determined they are all genomically linked to the current outbreak.
After 83 new cases were reported on Sunday, the Government was urged to do more to fight Covid-19 with epidemiologists repeating their calls for saliva testing to be introduced.
New Zealanders will find out the nature and duration of the lockdown at a post-Cabinet announcement on Monday at 4pm.
All of New Zealand, bar Northland and Auckland, is due to move from level 4 – the strongest restrictions – to level 3 at midnight on Tuesday, but it is not yet known how long for.
Auckland and Northland were likely to stay at level 4 for another two weeks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has previously said.
