New Zealand sees second consecutive day with no new cases

New Zealand reported a second consecutive day of no new cases of Covid-19 spread in the community on Wednesday.

A single new case diagnosed in the country on Wednesday, health officials said, was uncovered in a traveller returning to New Zealand who is in quarantine at a managed isolation facility.

But another person has died of the virus in hospital, bringing New Zealand’s Covid-19 death toll to 25.

The news of a second day of no reported domestic cases comes two days after Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister, announced current coronavirus restrictions on social gatherings would remain in place until next Monday – at which point, her government will begin to ease them if community spread of the virus appears to be controlled.

New Zealand already vanquished the virus once, in June – at one point there were no active cases of Covid-19 in the country – but a resurgence in the largest city, Auckland, led to a second lockdown, which is now being eased.

Health officials said Tuesday that there are 79 cases of Covid-19 in the country – a number that is slowly falling as more people recover than there are new cases diagnosed — with 52 of them in the community and 27 imported cases in quarantine facilities. Three people are in hospital with the virus.

A total of 1,451 cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed in New Zealand.