No new cases of COVID-19 have been detected in the community in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.
Five imported cases have been picked up at the border in managed isolation facilities. They all arrived from India and transited through the United Arab Emirates. The first three, who arrived on March 20, March 23 and March 27 respectively, are all contacts of previously reported cases.
The first individual tested positive 10 days into their stay in managed isolation, the second returned a positive result on day seven, and the third on day three. The fourth and fifth cases arrived on March 30 and tested positive on arrival.
All five are quarantining in Auckland.
Nine additional people have now recovered, bringing the total number of active cases in New Zealand to 67. To date, the country has recorded 2145 cases of COVID-19.
One previously reported case of COVID-19 has been reclassified as not a case following further investigation, the Ministry of Health said. The individual had contracted the virus before travelling to New Zealand and was recorded as a case in their country of origin.
As it was a historical infection, the person was not infectious when they entered the country. They have been removed from New Zealand's official case numbers.
Grand Mercure update
As of 9am on Thursday, 333 of the 343 returnees who required additional monitoring after leaving Auckland's Grand Mercure managed isolation facility have returned negative results.
Last week, it was announced a large number of returnees recently released from the Grand Mercure had been asked to get retested due to suspected transmission within the facility.
Of the remaining 10, two were exempt because they are infants. One refused to undergo testing and three require no further action after being assessed by public health officials. The ministry is continuing to monitor the four outstanding results.
"A highly precautionary approach has been taken with this group and the public health assessment is that they pose a low risk to the public," said a spokesperson for the ministry.
Testing update
On Wednesday, 5951 more tests were processed. In the last week, 34,946 tests have been processed, with a seven-day rolling average up to Wednesday of 4992 completed tests.
The total number of tests processed by laboratories to date is 1,902,915.
Up-to-date information on testing locations nationwide is available on Healthpoint.
