Two new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand have been announced today, with both people in managed isolation or quarantine.
One case is a man in his 50s who had arrived from India, diagnosed during the now-regular day three testing while at a managed isolation facility.
The other case is a woman in her 20s who had arrived from the US. Her husband, who had also arrived back from the US at the same time, is one of the cases previously announced last week.
As her husband had been diagnosed with Covid-19, the woman had already been moved to a quarantine facility before she tested positive, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today.
The new cases bring the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 22.
One person remains in Auckland Hospital in a stable condition, but doesn't require intensive care treatment, Dr Bloomfield says.
He says there are still no Covid-19 cases out in the community.
"The positive tests are coming through largely on that early testing, although it's not in itself fail-proof either," Dr Bloomfield says.
"It needs to be complemented with the ongoing daily symptom checks, which were already happening, and the 14-day managed isolation period."
If a second outbreak hits, Dr Bloomfield says New Zealand is better prepared than it was when Covid-19 first broke out.
"This is a long game here and it may well be that for whatever reason, we will get cases again in the community."
He pointed to improvements in the testing capacity, PPE supply and plans with the DHBs, as well as improved contact tracing.
Meanwhile the Ministry of Health is still trying to get in touch with more than 300 people who left managed isolation without being tested.
They had completed their 14 days and let out before June 16, when rules around testing changed.
Because of that, Dr Bloomfield says they're "less of an issue" than those who were granted compassionate leave and left isolation early before their 14 days were up.
"These people represent a really low risk so the question is whether we really still need to follow them up," Dr Bloomfield
The total number of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand is now 1528, while 22 people have died of the virus since the outbreak began.
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