By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The New Zealand Ministry of Health reported nine new cases of COVID-19 Monday (eight confirmed cases and one probable case.)

New Zealand/NASA/JPL/NIMA

One confirmed case is an imported case picked up in MIQ at the Four Points by Sheraton in Auckland at routine testing around day 12. The person who has tested positive is a woman in her 30s and we will provide an update on where she travelled from when the information is available.

The other eight cases – seven confirmed and one probable – are in the community and are all linked to the Auckland cluster.

One of these had contact with another confirmed case on bus transport. Four are household contacts of confirmed cases. One has had contact with a confirmed case at a church. Two are workplace contacts – one of these is the probable case.

These cases bring our total number of confirmed cases to 1,332, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.

Our total number of probable cases is now 351, and our combined total of confirmed and probable cases is now 1,683.

The total number of active cases in New Zealand is 123, of which 19 are imported cases from managed isolation facilities.

The national government said today that the existing Alert Levels will remain in place until Sunday, Aug. 30, which means Auckland will remain at Alert Level 3 and the rest of the country will remain at Alert Level 2.

The five extra days will provide a greater degree of security, officials note.

If there is no significant change in the cluster’s growth and trajectory, from 11:59pm on Sunday 30 August 2020 the Auckland region will move down to Alert Level 2 with some additional restrictions on gathering sizes.

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That means schools and workplaces will reopen in Auckland next week.

These settings will be in place for 1 week, and will be reviewed again before Sunday 6 September 2020.

Earlier last week, prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern postponed the country’s general election over the COVID-19 outbreak.

The vote was due to take place on 19 September but will now be held on 17 October instead.