There are three new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine facilities, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.
It has been 93 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, indicating there is no evidence of community transmission in the country.
The first of Sunday's cases is the child of a previously reported case. They arrived in New Zealand on July 14 from Pakistan, via Dubai.
The second is a woman in her 30s, who arrived in New Zealand on July 28 from Los Angeles. She has been completing her 14 days of mandatory managed isolation at the Rydges in Auckland, and tested positive for COVID-19 due to routine testing at around day three of her stay.
The third case is a woman in her 40s, who arrived in New Zealand on August 1 from Manila, via Hong Kong.
The three people have since been transferred to the quarantine facility in Auckland.
New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases now stands at 1215, the number reported to the World Health Organization.
There are now 25 active cases of the virus, all of which were detected in managed isolation and quarantine facilities. None of the patients are receiving hospital-level care for COVID-19.
Testing
On Saturday, laboratories completed 2401 tests - of which 2023 swabs were taken in the community, and 378 were taken in managed isolation and quarantine facilities. This brings the total number of tests completed to date to 470,469.
Saturday's test total is up on the last two Saturdays - on which 1754 and 1365 were completed respectively - but the Ministry of Health says testing rates still aren't up to scratch, with a particular focus on Auckland and Queenstown.
In Sunday's statement, the ministry noted that surveillance testing has been ongoing over the weekend in Auckland, Queenstown and Christchurch - locations connected to the man who flew from Christchurch to South Korea and returned a positive test on arrival.
District health boards (DHBs) in Auckland have reported around 200 people being tested for COVID-19 at new model community testing centres in Northcote, Henderson, Grafton and Wiri. All tested to date have returned negative results. These centres remain open until 3pm on Sunday and continue to have plenty of capacity, the ministry said.
Canterbury DHB is continuing to offer testing to identified contacts of the man who tested positive in South Korea, as well as those who were in the Queenstown region at the same time. Testing is available through GPs or from one of three Urgent Care Centres in Christchurch: Riccarton Clinic, 24Hour Surgery or Moorhouse Medical.
Testing at Queenstown Medical Centre has been ongoing, yet testing rates are lower than expected.
Southern DHB will be undertaking further community testing at a pop-up testing centre on Tuesday, August 4 from 9am in the Pak 'n Save carpark.
"We are especially asking Queenstown locals to come forward, and in particular those who are working in public-facing roles and may have had symptoms during July. People don't need to have experienced symptoms to be tested in the pop-up centre and they won't need to self-isolate while they await the result of the test," the ministry said in the statement.
The person who has tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in South Korea was in south Auckland from June 20 to July 20; Queenstown from July 1 to July 4; and in and around Christchurch Airport on July 20 and July 21.
Anyone who was in those areas around those dates can contact Healthline or their GP for advice on being tested. The assessment and testing are both free.
"Testing widely is how we can be assured there is no undetected community transmission in New Zealand. If you are offered a swab, please get tested," said the statement.
"Anyone who is unsure about whether they should get tested should contact their GP or Healthline for advice on getting a swab taken."
