New Zealand has reported three new locally acquired Covid-19 cases, the country’s first since late January, when a returned traveller tested positive after leaving quarantine.

The country's minister for Covid-19 response, Chris Hipkins, said the three cases were a couple and their daughter in Auckland, and that genomic testing was being conducted to see if the family’s infection was linked to any highly infectious variants.

The new cases, the first since Jan 24, forced Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to return to the capital Wellington, skipping a gay pride event in Auckland that she was due to attend on Sunday afternoon.