Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (left) takes part in a press conference about the COVID-19 in Wellington. File/AFP

New Zealand has reported two new cases of the coronavirus as a trickle of infected people continue to arrive at the border.

The country of 5 million people now has nine active cases after having none at all earlier this month.

New Zealand said it was extending a ban on cruise ships arriving in the country as it looks to safeguard borders as new cases emerge of people arriving in the country with the coronavirus.

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Health officials said Monday that all those cases involve people who have recently arrived and are in quarantine, and there’s no evidence of community transmission.

Still, many remain anxious community transmission could return, especially after health officials admitted making a mistake by allowing two women who had arrived from London to leave quarantine before they had been tested because a parent was dying. The women later tested positive and have since isolated themselves.

The latest two cases involve people returning from India and Pakistan.

Agencies