The Ministry of Health provided details of the cases in a statement this afternoon.
Of the recent returnees who have tested positive for Covid-19:
- One person arrived from the United Kingdom via Dubai on November 14
- Two people arrived from Dubai on November 14
All three people tested positive during routine testing around day 3 of their time in managed isolation, the ministry said.
There are 64 active cases of coronavirus in New Zealand and the total number of confirmed cases is now 1652.
Yesterday laboratories processed 8,392 tests for Covid-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 1,199,426.
From tomorrow, masks must be worn while using public transport in Auckland, and they are mandatory on all domestic flights.
Defence Force cluster
Auckland Regional Public Health Service is continuing to follow up contacts from existing cases that are part of the newest cluster, and no further positive results had come back from close contacts of known cases, the ministry said.
Residents at the accommodation facility that the New Zealand Defence Force was using in Auckland where a worker, Case A, had been staying had all had a second test, and those had all come back negative.
The genome sequencing has shown that Cases A, B, D and E are all part of the same outbreak. Health officials were still awaiting the sequencing from Case C, who is a close contact of Case B.
Epidemiological investigations continue as to how Case D, an Auckland student, was infected.
The ministry said wide testing around these known cases allowed officials to have greater confidence that there were not possible undetected links in the chain of transmission.
Laboratories in Auckland had received more than 22,000 tests from the community since Case D came to light on Thursday, all returning negative results except for Case E, who is a close contact and neighbour of Case D.
Officials continued to encourage anyone who visited a location of interest during the relevant time period to get tested to ensure quick identification of anyone who may have been infected.
Anyone who developed cold or flu symptoms anywhere in the country was urged to immediately get in touch with their health care provider or Healthline and get a test.
"Our systems have the best chance of staying ahead of Covid-19 if everyone who becomes unwell with cold or flu like symptoms, stays at home and seeks a test quickly, and all New Zealanders are keeping track of where they have been and who they have seen," the ministry said.
