WELLINGTON, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) - New Zealand reported 33 new community cases of COVID-19, said Ashley Bloomfield, Director-General of Health from the Ministry of Health at a press conference on Sunday.

Of the new community cases, 32 were in the country's largest city Auckland, one case was in the Waikato region in the central part of the North Island of New Zealand. Additionally, there was one new community case reported outside Auckland. The case was not added to Sunday's case number tally, due to the time of reporting.

Following Sunday's new cases reported outside of Auckland, part of the Waikato region will be upgraded to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 restrictions from 11:59 p.m. Sunday night for five days, said Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at the press conference.

The prime minister urged New Zealanders to get vaccinated as soon as possible as the vast majority of the cases have not been vaccinated.

"Vaccination makes a difference, it keeps people safe," said Ardern.

The total case number of COVID-19 in the current Delta variant outbreak in the New Zealand community reached 1,328, including 1,309 in Auckland, 17 in Wellington and two cases in Waikato, said Bloomfield.

There were 26 COVID-19 patients in New Zealand hospitals including 3 in intensive care units (ICUs) or high dependency units (HDUs), said Bloomfield.

New Zealand recorded 3,995 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, the health ministry said.

Auckland is at COVID-19 Alert Level 3 restrictions. Gatherings are limited to ten people. The rest of the country is at Alert Level Two restrictions with indoor activities limited to 100 people.

The cabinet will decide the potential Alert Level changes for Auckland on Monday.