WELLINGTON, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand reported three new imported cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, including two cases from managed isolation and one historic imported case.
There are no new cases in the community, according to the Ministry of Health.
One case reported arrived from Ireland via Dubai on Sept. 29. The person had been in managed isolation at the Sudima in Rotorua and tested positive before being transferred to Auckland's quarantine facility, said a ministry statement.
The second case arrived from Hong Kong on Saturday. The person had been staying in managed isolation at the Holiday Inn in Auckland and has been transferred to the Auckland quarantine facility upon returning a positive test result from their routine test around the thrid day of their stay, the statement said.
The third case is a historic case that is regarded as an old infection and the person is no longer infectious. The person was retested as part of the follow-up to the Christchurch returnee cases and returned a weakly positive result.
New Zealand's total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is 1,508, which is the number reported to the World Health Organization.
One case is now considered to have recovered, so the country's total number of active cases is now 39 - all imported cases. There are no active community cases of COVID-19.
"With those numbers and as Auckland has joined the rest of the country in Alert Level 1 today, it's worth reflecting on our collective success in responding to the Auckland August outbreak. And it's a good time to remind all New Zealanders that we must remain vigilant to the risk of the virus re-emerging," Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told a news briefing.
"The source of the Auckland August cluster remains under investigation, and we may never know where it came from," Bloomfield said.
There is an ongoing risk that further community cases will emerge in the future, and the risk of COVID-19 spreading in the community is much greater in lower alert levels when there are no restrictions on gatherings or going out, he said
"Our key point is that Alert Level 1 is not Alert Level none," he added. Enditem
