New Zealand has recorded one new case of Covid-19, diagnosed in a traveller returning from abroad who remains in government-run isolation facilities.
That means the country has reported 11 active cases of Covid-19, all in people returning to New Zealand. Nine of them were diagnosed during their government-managed isolation and remain there.
The other two, travellers returning from Britain, were mistakenly allowed out of government-run quarantine without a test to visit a dying relative, and were later confirmed to have the virus.
Since the women’s cases emerged last week, more than 45,000 Covid-19 tests have been taken among New Zealand’s population of 5m people, to try to rule out widespread community transmission. Health officials, giving a news conference in Wellington, said 9,174 tests were taken yesterday alone – the most of any day of the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest case was diagnosed in a woman aged in her 60s who arrived in New Zealand on 18 June. She was traveling on a repatriation flight from India, according to health officials, who are giving a news conference in Wellington.
The new cases have been uncovered over the past week, after New Zealand had recorded a full week with no active cases of the coronavirus, and 24 consecutive days of no new diagnosed instances.
But officials had warned that the number would tick up again as New Zealanders returned from Covid-19 hotspots around the world. New Zealanders and their families, along with some essential workers, are the only people permitted to enter the country.
They must remain in isolation at government-run hotels for 14 days, and take two tests for Covid-19.
