13 Mar 2021

Covid-19 update: Three new imported cases, two historical cases

1:33 pm on 13 March 2021

There have been three new cases of Covid-19 reported in managed isolation in New Zealand today, with two new historical cases.

Ōtara testing centre on Wednesday 24 February.

Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers

In a statement, the Health Ministry said two new cases have been deemed to be historical. They were from the same household who had recently completed managed isolation and returned a series of negative test results.

They returned an initial weak positive test a few days after leaving managed isolation. The Ministry said an investigation - which included testing all other household members - has determined they were historical cases.

The three new cases in managed isolation include one who arrived in Auckland from Brazil via Qatar/Brisbane on 6 March, and two from India.

The Ministry said all 15 cases associated with the February cluster have now recovered.

"As all New Zealand enjoys being back in alert level 1, a reminder to remain vigilant and stick to the basics: staying home if unwell and getting advice about having a test, washing hands, coughing and sneezing into the elbow, and wearing masks or face coverings on all public transport and keeping track of where you've been - scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app dashboard."

There are now 88 active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with a total of 2066 confirmed cases.

There was one new case in managed isolation reported yesterday, as Auckland joined the rest of New Zealand at alert level 1 at midday.

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs