3 new cases

All the cases were confirmed following conclusion of the ministry’ regular test schedule.

They are in quarantine.

“The total number of positive cases is 30 and all remain asymptomatic,” the ministry said.

“All frontline workers in quarantine other than the 5 nurses at the Isolation unit in Moto’otua Hospital continue to return negative cases after their third round of testing.”

Currently there is no evidence of a community transmission and Samoa remains at Alert Level 2 with restrictions including gatherings limited to 30 people.

Permanent Secretary for Health Dr James Fong said all the cases are linked to a man from Saru, Lautoka who presented with COVID-like symptoms to the Natabua Health Centre and tested positive on Friday.

One of the new cases is his wife, another is his daughter, and the third was a primary contact of his wife.

All three have been in isolation since Saturday.

The contact tracers are locating and quarantining their close contacts.

All other known primary contacts relating to the three have tested negative.

There are now 25 active cases in New Zealand, all in quarantine.

Two of today's new cases were in managed isolation in Waikato and the third in Canterbury.

The first case is a man in his 30s who arrived in New Zealand on 14 July from Afghanistan flying via Doha, while the other Waikato case is another man in his 30s who arrived on the same day on a fight from Pakistan via Dubai.

Both positive results were from day three tests. The two men - and the family of one of them - have been transferred from Waikato to the Auckland quarantine facility.