New Zealand identifies 31 new cases of COVID-19

New Zealand has identified 31 new cases of COVID-19 during the past three days, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Sunday.

While there was no new case of COVID-19 in the community, there has been an average of around ten new and historical cases of COVID-19 at the New Zealand border per day, totalling 31 cases since its last media statement on Thursday, according to the ministry.

Since December 13, whole-genome sequencing had identified a total of 19 cases of COVID-19 at the New Zealand border with the variant known as 20B/501Y.V1 (lineage B1.1.17) detected in Britain and one case with the variant first identified in South Africa (501Y.V2), said the ministry in the statement.

"The number of cases reinforces the need for on-going vigilance at the border, as COVID-19 continues to accelerate overseas", said the ministry.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand was currently 75 and the total number of confirmed cases in the country reached 1,863, it is said.

The total number of tests processed by New Zealand laboratories to date is 1,438,446.

New Zealand general public was urged by the ministry to keep contact tracing and to maintain stringent hygiene practices as the COVID-19 pandemic continues around the globe.

New Zealand is currently at COVID-19 Alert Level One with no restriction on public gatherings. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )