There is one new case of coronavirus in New Zealand's managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities, the COVID-19 Response Minister has revealed.
Chris Hipkins announced the solitary case on Tuesday afternoon, at a press conference explaining how the Government plans to manage community transmission of coronavirus should it arise this summer.
It's not known where the new imported case is from, nor when they arrived in the country.
There are no further COVID-19 cases to report, meaning it's now been 27 days since a community case was last detected in the country.
Hipkins' impromptu case announcement was unexpected, as it fell on a Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health revealed it would be breaking away from daily coronavirus updates last week, advising media it would now only report new cases on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
On Monday, the most recent official COVID-19 update, the ministry revealed there had been no new cases in the preceding 24 hours.
It also announced that a source investigation into the Air New Zealand crew member who contracted coronavirus last week is still ongoing - although recent findings suggest it didn't happen in New Zealand.
The ministry says preliminary genome sequencing suggests the source of their infection was in the United States. The staffer, who arrived back in New Zealand from the US on December 9, is currently staying at Auckland's quarantine facility, the Jet Park Hotel.
