There are nine new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, all in managed isolation, as Kiwis return home before Christmas.

There are no new community cases today, the Ministry of Health reported in a statement.

There are currently 50 active cases in New Zealand, while there were 6504 tests conducted yesterday.

Today's cases among recent returnees are from varied origins, which the ministry said was a sign of how the pandemic continues to ravage parts of the world.

"Mandatory isolation and testing will continue to be of critical importance as high numbers of New Zealanders return home before the holiday period," the ministry said.

They include:
• One person arrived from France on November 17 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• One person arrived from the Netherlands on November 17 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• One person arrived from Dubai on November 17 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• One person arrived from the United States on November 19 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in quarantine in Christchurch.
• One person arrived from the United Kingdom on November 14 and tested positive following routine surveillance at around day seven. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• Two people, who were travelling separately, arrived on the same flight from Bangladesh on November 10 and tested positive at around day 12. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• One person arrived from Spain on November 16 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in the Auckland quarantine facility.
• One person arrived from Italy on November 16 and tested positive at around day three. They are now in quarantine in Christchurch.

Yesterday a new case emerged from the Defence Force cluster, bringing the total in the cluster to six cases.

The new case is a close contact of the Defence Force civilian worker who tested positive earlier this month.

The ministry said that the latest case in the Defence Force cluster - the sixth case so far, or Case F - has been genome sequenced, confirming a direct link to the cluster.

Case F has been in isolation since November 7 and is a close contact of Case B, a Defence Force civilian worker who caught Covid-19 from Defence Force serviceman working at the Jet Park quarantine facility in Auckland.

The person is a border worker who has been isolating in a managed isolation facility for the past 10 days as a precaution, and was isolating at home before that.

They had tested negative after five days in isolation, and were tested again at around day 12. A positive test was reported yesterday.