Melbourne, Jun 22: An Indian man is among two persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in New Zealand, taking the total number of active COVID-19 cases in the country to nine after having none at all earlier this month, health officials said on Monday.

The man in his 30s travelled from India along with his wife. He had been staying at a hotel in Auckland. He came to New Zealand on an Air India flight, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield was quoted as saying by the New Zealand Herald. India Reports 445 Deaths, 14,821 New COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours, Coronavirus Tally Crosses 4.2 Lakh Mark.

The second case involves a teenage girl who arrived from Islamabad via Melbourne on June 13. Her family travelled with her and had tested negative, Bloomfield said. The teen was also staying at a hotel in Auckland with her family, the report said.

However, both of the positive cases, and the people they are travelling with, have now been transferred to a different hotel for quarantine, the report said, adding that both of the new cases were tested on day three of their isolation stay.

Health officials said on Monday that all those cases involve people who have recently arrived and are in quarantine, and there's no evidence of community transmission, it said.

The total of confirmed coronavirus cases since the outbreak began is now 1513. On Sunday, laboratories carried out 3402 tests. The total number of tests done in New Zealand to date is now 344,519.

On June 8, New Zealand reported no active cases of COVID-19 in the country for the first time since February 28. the country of 5 million people lifted almost all of its coronavirus restrictions after reporting no active cases.

New Zealand first went into lockdown on March 25, setting up a new four-stage alert system and going in at level four, where most businesses were shut, schools closed and people told to stay at home. On June 8, all of New Zealand moved to level one, the lowest of a four-tier alert system.

Under the new rules after moving into level one, all schools and workplaces can open. Weddings, funerals and public transport can resume without any restrictions. Social distancing is no longer required but will be encouraged.

The country's borders remain closed to foreign travellers, and rules remain in place requiring New Zealanders arriving from abroad to go through a 14-day period of isolation or quarantine.

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