The Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield on Thursday confirmed eight new cases of Covid-19, including two in Southland.
Dr Bloomfield said all the cases were linked to overseas travel, bringing the total number of cases to 28.
There is still no evidence of community transmission in NZ, Bloomfield says.
The Ministry of Health is working to identify any close contacts
Two of the cases are in Southland, two in Taranaki, one in Rotorua, one in Northland and two in Auckland.
One of the new cases was in hospital, while the others were in self-isolation.
Yesterday a person in Christchurch was announced as one of eight new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
Christchurch's first confirmed case of coronavirus is a woman in her 40s, who arrived from London on Monday.
Four of the new cases are in Auckland, while one is in Christchurch, two in Waikato and another in Invercargill, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says
That brings the total to 20 since the start of the outbreak.
One of the eight patients arrived in the country after Monday's travel restrictions were imposed.
The woman, aged in her 40s, arrived from London; the seven others came from Europe, Sydney, the Gold Coast, and North America.
Meanwhile, the parents of the 150 close cases of a Logan Park High school pupil who tested positive, have been told they will likely receive results of tests this afternoon or tomorrow.
150 tested in Dunedin
Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said yesterday 150 people who came into close contact with a Dunedin high school pupil who tested positive for the virus were being tested and instructed to self-isolate.
Logan Park High School, initially closed for 48 hours after a pupil tested positive on Tuesday, will remain closed until after the weekend.
The pupil’s father, who had recently returned to the country from Germany, tested positive on Monday.
A Ministry of Health spokesman declined to comment on a third suspected case in Dunedin, which was a person from the same family as the two confirmed cases.
The ministry only commented on positive test results, which meant either the test had come back negative, or they were still awaiting the result.
The person was experiencing symptoms and was in self-isolation along with their family members.
All close contacts of the positive pair would be required to self-isolate for 14 days even if test results came back negative, because it was possible they were incubating the virus.
Ministry of Education secretary of education Iona Holsted said it was following a plan in Dunedin and there were no immediate plans for widespread closures.
Invercargill man tests positive for virus
The Invercargill man, who is in his 40s and works at Findex Invercargill, had returned from the Gold Coast on March 10.
The Southern District Health Board last night issued a list of places the man had been where there was a low risk others could have contracted Covid-19 by coming into contact with him.
The places, all in Invercargill were: The Batch Cafe, March 16 at 8.30am and March 17 at 9.30am; New World, Windsor, March 12 at 4pm-5pm; the Waihopai Football Club, Surrey Park, March 12, 5pm-6pm; the Southland Athletics Championship, Surrey Park, March 14, 10am-11am and 3pm-4pm.
Last night, The New Zealand Herald reported the man had children who attended both Southland Boys’ and Southland Girls’ high schools.
The pupils were well and without symptoms, and there was minimal risk to other students, staff or others at the schools, the Southern District Health Board said in letters to parents.
