There are three new confirmed cases of COVID-19 to report in New Zealand today (Sunday August 23).

One case is epidemiologically linked to the cluster in Auckland as a household contact of a previously reported case.

Two are imported cases – one is a woman in her 20s who arrived in New Zealand on August 16 from Croatia via Switzerland and Hong Kong. She has been in MIQ at the Sudima in Rotorua and has been transferred to MIQ at Jet Park after testing positive for COVID-19 around day three of her stay.

The second case is a person in their 30s who has been in MIQ at the Grand Millennium in Auckland and tested positive around day 12 of their stay.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 114, of which 18 are imported cases from managed isolation facilities.

This morning the contact tracing team identified 2,308 close contacts of cases, of which 2,219 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and the rest are in the process of being contacted.

There are 151 people linked to the cluster who have been moved into the Auckland quarantine facility. This includes 82 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1,324 - the number reported to the World Health Organisation.

There are nine people with COVID-19 in hospital - two in Auckland City Hospital, four people in Middlemore, two people in North Shore Hospital and one person in Waikato Hospital.

Six people are stable on a ward, and three people in Middlemore are in ICU.

All of the cases who are in hospital are isolated and carefully managed separately from other patients.

The Ministry of Health said the public can be confident that District Health Boards are managing this effectively, as they did in the first outbreak of COVID-19 in New Zealand. 

“We have heard reports of people who are reluctant to get an ambulance or go to hospital – hospitals continue to be safe places to receive medical care, and people should feel confident going to hospital to receive treatment,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Yesterday laboratories processed 7,005 tests for COVID-19, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 692,481.

Laboratories are now processing tests within 24 hours of receiving them, although people should allow four days to be notified of their test results from when they were swabbed. Positive results are notified and followed up straight away. This is consistent with timeframes throughout most of the pandemic, and takes into account transport times, processing, checking and notification to GPs.

People who have symptoms of COVID-19 should continue to seek advice from their GP or Healthline on getting a test.