Four public hospitals in Auckland report seeing the same number of patients they normally see in mid-winter when the cold-and-flu season boosts the ranks of the sick.

"February has been unbelievably busy," Carol Wilson of the Waitemata District Health Board' told the New Zealand Herald. "My God, what's winter going to be like?"

The Herald said the patients aren't exclusive to any age group and suffer from a wide range of illnesses and injuries. They have filled hospital wards to capacity and prompted postponements of non-urgent surgery.

Hospital officials have been working on a new contingency plan and continue trying to recruit qualified staff for new hospital capacity that has been under construction.