New Zealand

COVID-19 response minister Chris Hipkins said the variant "changes the game considerably" and makes existing protections "look less adequate".

It comes as the country announced a further 21 confirmed cases in the latest outbreak of the virus.

New Zealand had quashed earlier COVID outbreaks with rapid, strict lockdowns.

The country was praised for its efforts, which effectively stopped the spread of the virus. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has repeatedly referred to New Zealand as "our team of five million".

It is understood she was accompanied by police on the flight that touched down in New Zealand yesterday morning.

Exclusive pictures show the plane that brought Aden back to New Zealand landing this morning.

In a statement, police told 1 NEWS it was “one of a number of government agencies that have been working for some time on a plan for the family’s return”.

“As this is an operational matter, police will not comment on the timings or arrangements for their return.”

It was confirmed last month that Aden would be returning to New Zealand from Turkey.

‘Alaimoana Tautua’ā and her five children had been told their application for a residency visa had been declined because ‘Alaimoana no longer had a partner to support her.

‘Alaimoana and her late husband, along with their two youngest children, arrived in New Zealand in 2016. The rest of the family arrived later.

Their five children, aged between 12 and 21, were all born in Tonga.

‘Alaimoana’s husband, ‘Ahoia Tautua’ā, was buried in Auckland in 2019 after dying of kidney failure.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said there were now 31 cases associated with the current Auckland community outbreak.

"All cases have or are being transferred safely to a managed isolation facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE."

The ministry said the three in Wellington had recently travelled to Auckland and visited a location of interest there.

There are 10 cases in the community and almost 70 locations of interest in Auckland and Coromandel.

Shopping malls, bars and cinemas across Auckland have been added to the Ministry of Health list of locations of interest meaning potentially thousands of people are now considered contacts.

Last night, malls in Albany and New Lynn, and supermarkets in different parts of Auckland were added.

So far, the earliest potential exposure site dates back two weeks to 3 August.

Jacinda Ardern said that genome sequencing has detected the Delta strain, and that it originated in NSW.

"We are dealing with the Delta variant ... our case has originated in Australia."

"Now the job is to work out how and when it got here,” Ms Ardern said.

The NZ Government will examine whether the positive case leaked from one of the country's managed isolation facilities

New Zealand has detected an additional two COVID cases, bringing the total in the current outbreak to seven.

Four community cases reported in New Zealand overnight, including an Auckland hospital worker, brings the total to five.

Cases are all linked to Tuesday's first case in Auckland, which is confirmed as the Delta variant.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimize exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," said prime minister Brown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ's Morning Report one of the new cases is a nurse at Auckland Hospital.

"The health workforce are very well versed and mapping these issues and have done in the past.

We have had COVID-positive cases in our health workforce before. What's different on this occasion is that we have this individual who is fully vaccinated."

Ardern said the four new cases were the workmate of the 58-year-old Devonport man and the workmate's close or household contacts.

Andrew Alan Williams, 54, and his former partner, Laken Maree Rose, 32, have been sentenced in the High Court at Rotorua.

Williams was sentenced to 23 years and five months in prison, with a non-parole period of nine years and four months.

Rose has been given a jail sentence of 19-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of seven years and nine months.

Williams was convicted on 56 charges and Rose 55.

They covered a raft of charges including rape, sexual violation, and making and possessing objectionable videos.

In a post-Cabinet media briefing Monday afternoon, Ardern announced Cabinet had made the decision to allow Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) workers from those countries to travel one way, without using MIQ.

The countries this would apply to reflected the fact all three nations had experienced very few cases of Covid-19, she said. Tonga had seen zero Covid-91 cases, Samoa just one, and Vanuatu had four - all those cases having been at the border with no community transmission.