NEW ZEALAND RECORDS TWO CASES OF COVID-19 AFTER 24-DAY STREAK WITHOUT AN INFECTION
New Zealand has recorded two separate cases of Coronavirus after a 24-day streak without an infection in the country, CNN reports.
Reports suggest that the victims are two women who arrived from Britain to visit a dying patient.
The two UK women, one in her 30s and one in her 40s, stayed in a hotel in Auckland after they landed in New Zealand on June 7th.
The duo was allowed to leave quarantine six days later to mourn with another relative whose parent died.
They were tested in Wellington yesterday as part of their agreed self-isolation plan. However, one of the women revealed that she had experienced symptoms earlier.
Their results came back today, a week after New Zealand authorities relaxed the lockdown order it gave when the number of active cases dropped to zero.
Passengers on their connecting flight from Brisbane and staff at their Auckland isolation hotel are now being tracked as medical personnel try to prevent a new outbreak.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, declared last week that New Zealand had eliminated the transmission of the virus within New Zealand after imposing one of the toughest lockdowns in the South-West.
However, today's development shows that New Zealand is still vulnerable to cases from abroad despite the strict border controls, which are likely to remain in place to prevent a new surge in cases.
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