New Zealand has recorded 45 new community cases of COVID-19 the past day, a sharp rise compared to the eight infections reported the same day before.
This brings the total number of cases in the current outbreak to 1,230.
All new cases were in the biggest city, Auckland, which has been under lockdown for more than a month, although restrictions were eased slightly last week.
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield urged everyone in Auckland to stay within their bubbles and wear face masks.
This emphasises the importance of everyone in Auckland focusing on alert level 3 measures, Dr Bloomfield said.
They are there for a reason, and this includes masking and even realising contact with others, staying in your bubble as much as possible. In August genomic sequencing discovered the Auckland epidemic was linked to a traveller from Sydney who arrived in the country on a red zone flight and entered hotel quarantine.
Auckland was nearing the end of its first week under its downgraded level 3 restrictions that were scheduled to be reviewed on 4 October.
New Zealand successfully addressed the COVID 19 outbreak last year by restricting travel to returning residents and implementing a lockdown.
Its extensive testing and contact tracing operation was up and running by July 2020 and its elimination strategy was praised by the World Health Organization.
The country has pursued the strategy ever since, with the backing of residents who have largely lived free from COVID - 19 restrictions for 18 months.
The Delta variant is now a significant threat to countries once praised for keeping the virus out.