There have been no new cases of Covid-19 detected in the community for the past two days, the Ministry of Health confirmed this afternoon.
Meanwhile, there are 10 new cases of the virus in managed isolation.
Five of today's new cases arrived from India via the United Arab Emirates. They tested positive between their arrival date and day 12 of their managed isolation stay.
One of today's new cases arrived from the US and tested positive on arrival in Auckland.
Two cases arrived together from Pakistan via United Arab Emirates and tested positive on arrival in Auckland.
One case arrived in Auckland from Papua New Guinea via Australia and tested positive on arrival.
The last case reported today, who has since recovered, is a person who arrived from Portugal via the United Arab Emirates in January with a high cycle threshold (CT) and was reclassified as under investigation. The Ministry of Health said the case is being retrospectively reported and is now being confirmed but recovered.
Today's new cases brings the total number of confirmed virus cases to 2088.
The total number of active cases in New Zealand today is 55.
"The number of active cases has dropped substantially today. This follows the discovery that the number of active Covid-19 cases in New Zealand had been over-reported due to a process issue," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
"Some recovered cases had been discharged from a managed quarantine facility but their status was not updated from active to recovered in our reporting systems.
"It has been confirmed that all positive cases were managed appropriately and there has been no risk to the community."
The ministry has worked with public health units and ESR to identify the cause and put in place mitigation steps to ensure this doesn't occur again.
"We are constantly assessing our processes to see if any improvements or changes can be made. We know how important accurate information has been to managing New Zealand’s response to Covid-19."
On Wednesday 5641 tests were carried out, slightly above the 4531 yesterday. The total number of tests since the pandemic began is 1.84 million.
The Covid Tracer app now as 2.75 million registered users.
"It’s great to see ongoing good use of the NZ Covid Tracer app and, as events continue around the country this weekend, it’s vitally important that Kiwis continue to do so," the Ministry of Health said in a statement.
"Please scan QR codes wherever you go and turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app dashboard if you haven’t already done so."
This afternoon's update was provided in a written statement as there was no 1pm media conference.
The update comes as the second round of Pfizer doses for border workers is now underway. Head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine Brigadier Jim Bliss confirmed the vaccine progress on Wednesday, during the last update on Covid-19 cases.
It has now been 18 days since the last case of community transmission.
The next Ministry of Health update is expected on Sunday, unless any significant events arise.
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