After 24 days without any new coronavirus case, two women arriving from britain to visit their dying parent, tested positive for the virus.

"The two women landed in New Zealand on June 7 and were allowed to leave quarantine six days later to grieve with another relative when the parent died. They were tested in Wellington yesterday 'as part of their agreed self-isolation plan' - although one of them realised 'in retrospect' that she had experienced symptoms earlier. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern (pictured centre) declared last week that New Zealand had 'eliminated transmission' of the virus within New Zealand. Ardern's popularity has surged in recent weeks after the country emerged from lockdown with only 1,504 cases and 22 deaths. However, today's news shows that New Zealand is still vulnerable to cases from abroad despite the strict border controls which remain in place," Dailymail reports .

The health officials in New Zealand expressed their dissatisfaction on hearing the news,

'A new case is something we hoped we wouldn't get but is also something we have expected and planned for.

'That's why we have geared up our contact tracing and testing capability to be able to respond rapidly.

'We know there are people continuing to come to New Zealand from countries where there is active community spread of COVID-19. This is managed through our requirement for two weeks in isolation at the border.'   


A week earlier the prime minister of New Zealand Jacinder Ardern announced that they had managed to eliminate the virus transmission and decided to lift the lockdown. 

"We have eliminated transmission of the virus for now. While the job is not done. This is a milestone," she said, adding that lifting of restrictions will be effective from midnight on Monday (12:00 GMT)." Adern said.