WELLINGTON, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported two new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with the number of active cases in the country being 24, all in managed isolation and quarantine facilities, according to the Ministry of Health.
It has been 96 days since the last case of COVID-19 was acquired locally from an unknown source, according to the ministry.
Wednesday's first case was a man in his 20s who arrived in New Zealand on July 23 from the Philippines via Hong Kong. He has been in managed isolation at the Rydges in Rotorua and tested negative for COVID-19 around day 3 of his stay. He has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility after testing positive around day 12 of his stay in managed isolation, said a ministry statement.
The second case was a woman in her 40s who arrived in New Zealand on Aug. 1 from the Philippines via Hong Kong. She has been in managed isolation at the Grand Millennium in Auckland, and tested positive around day 3 of her stay, it said.
These cases bring New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 to 1,219, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization, the ministry said, adding there is no one in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for COVID-19.
The health ministry is actively considering its advice to the public on use of masks as it looks at the steps that the public could take to be better prepared for a possible further outbreak of COVID-19, it said.
The updated World Health Organization advice is that masks are effective in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when worn by the public where there are cases of community transmission. The WHO also suggests that people should be prepared for the use of masks before the need to use them arises.
"If there are further outbreaks of COVID-19, masks will be one important component of our strategy for containing the spread of the virus," the ministry said in the statement. Enditem
