Covid-19: Ten new cases at border in two days
There are 10 cases of Covid-19 to report in managed isolation in New Zealand since Friday.
In an update shortly after 1pm on Sunday, the Ministry of Health said one of these cases was classified as historical, and not infectious.
There continues to be no new cases in the community.
Eight of the new cases are in Auckland, and one in Christchurch.
The historical case involved a person who travelled from Pakistan via the UAE on September 5.
They completed managed isolation and returned two negative test results in September but were recently retested as a pre-travel requirement. That test returned a weak positive result, indicative of historical infection.
Of the new cases, two people arrived from South Africa via the UAE on Thursday. Both were tested on their first day in New Zealand.
A person from the United Kingdom who also travelled through the UAE and arrived on Thursday has tested positive too.
One of the people who tested positive was from an undetermined country and arrived last Tuesday.
Others who tested positive came from Japan, the UK, the United States and the UAE.
Four cases have now recovered bringing the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 82. The total number of confirmed cases is 1,900.
The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,463,890.
On Friday 3,325 tests were processed and yesterday there were 3,488 tests processed.
The seven-day rolling average up to yesterday is 3,635 tests processed.
Over the summer break, the Ministry of Health continues to encourage people with any Covid-19 symptoms to get assessed for testing by contacting their doctor or calling Healthline. Healthline is free and available 24/7. Medical professionals are best placed to assess whether a test is needed.
New pre-departure testing requirement
The first travellers from the UK and US under the new requirements for pre-departure testing arrived into New Zealand over the weekend, with Customs reporting very high levels of compliance.
The Ministry recognises the extra effort required to comply and thanks these individuals very much for their contribution to helping keep New Zealand’s borders safe.
From 11.59 pm Friday, travellers from the United States and United Kingdom must produce a negative test result for Covid-19 or a signed medical exemption upon landing in New Zealand.
This measure is in addition to travellers arriving from the United States and the United Kingdom requiring a Covid-19 test within 24 hours of arriving into managed isolation and staying in their rooms until a negative test result is returned.
Pre-departure testing will soon be expanded to include all countries excluding Australia, Antarctica and some Pacific Island nations. These additional requirements have been put in place to further strengthen our border, to protect New Zealand from Covid-19 and new emerging variants.
More detailed information for travellers can be found on the United Against Covid-19 website.
