Coronavirus: Zero new cases of COVID-19 at MIQ facilities, Air NZ case investigation continues

There are no new cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has announced.

It has now been 26 days since a case of community transmission was detected on our shores.

Meanwhile the source investigation into how an Air New Zealand crew member contracted coronavirus 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 US.

The staffer, who arrived back in New Zealand from the United States on December 9, is currently staying at Auckland's quarantine facility, the Jet Park Hotel.

The Ministry of Health says the person had returned a negative result on December 3, and that testing indicated it was a "very new infection".

All other air crew on the flight returned negative results and were placed in isolation. Three crew members deemed to be close contacts of the positive case were awaiting testing on Monday.

The lack of new cases means the number of active cases remains at 56, with the combined tally of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand since the start of the outbreak now standing at 2096.

On Sunday, our laboratories completed 2203 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,344,192.