Coronavirus: Today New Zealand has five new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the community

Today New Zealand has five new confirmed cases of COVID in the community says Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

All five are linked to the current South Auckland cluster - four are in Auckland and the other person is related to the Tokoroa case.

There are six people in hospital, including one person in intensive care.

That brings the total number of active cases to 101 in New Zealand, with 79 in the community.

The total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand since the pandemic began is 1,304.

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On Tuesday a case emerged that was unconnected to the South Auckland community cluster, which appears to have started at the Mt Wellington Americold workplace on July 31.

The new case was a maintenance worker at Rydges Hotel who tested positive on Sunday during mandatory testing of all workers at managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facilities.

Genomic sequencing traced his case to a woman who flew back from the USA and stayed at the Rydges until she tested positive for Covid-19 on July 31.

The current alert settings - level 3 in Auckland and level 2 in the rest of the country - are in place until 11.59pm on Wednesday 26 August, but Cabinet will review the settings on Friday.