PM Jacinda Ardern told reporters there is no evidence that new arrivals in New Zealand have been faking COVID-19 test results prior to departure.
Video / Mark Mitchell
There are two new Covid-19 cases in managed isolation and no new cases in the community. The seven-day rolling average of new cases detected at the border is four.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand as of Tuesday is 80, a Ministry of Health spokeswoman said.
The two new cases travelled together and arrived in New Zealand on the same flight as the 10 new positive Covid-19 cases reported yesterday. They have been moved to the Auckland quarantine facility.
They returned a positive result after day 1 testing.
"These recent positive cases do not necessarily indicate an issue with pre-departure testing, since people may not have been infectious at the time of pre-departure testing," the spokeswoman said.
"They may have been incubating the virus at the time or be exposed to the virus after being tested.
"The ministry does not consider these recent cases from India as entirely unexpected, given India is reporting the highest number of daily Covid-19 cases worldwide at present. These cases again underscore the value of having the day 0/1 testing in place. All people arriving into New Zealand must remain in their rooms until those day 0/1 tests results come back."
Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed cases so far is 2139.
Investigations into cases at the Grand Mercure Auckland hotel continue. Photo / Supplied
The investigation into the day 12 case at the Grand Mercure managed isolation facility in Auckland continues.
The total number of returnees in this group has increased to 344 as it includes the last returnees who needed additional monitoring to leave the hotel. They are now isolating at home until they return negative test results. The assessment was that this additional step was needed until yesterday, and it has now been lifted for anyone leaving the facility from today.
As at 9am Tuesday, 340 of the 344 returnees to have left the Grand Mercure have been contacted. Of those, 315 have returned negative results, one returned a positive result which is classified as a historical infection on the basis of further testing and serology results. Historical cases are not considered to be infectious. There have been no results yet for 28.
On Monday, 3722 tests were processed. In the last week 35,490 tests were processed, with a seven-day rolling average up to yesterday of 5070.
Queensland cluster grows overnight
Today's statement will come just as Queensland authorities have announced that its latest cluster has grown by 10 positive cases overnight.
The new community cases bring the cluster to 15 cases - including two men from the city's north, a nurse and her sister and two people believed to be colleagues of one of the northside men.
Brisbane residents started a three-day lockdown at 5pm yesterday, local time, after officials made the sudden announcement a few hours earlier when the new community cases were discovered.
