Wellington, Mar 16 (IANS): Gatherings of 500 or more people held outdoors or indoors "should be cancelled" due to coronavirus concerns, and the decision was made "in the best interest of New Zealanders", Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday.

There are approximately 107 events, with participants of more than 1,000 people, scheduled to take place nationwide next month, Xinhua news agency quoted Ardern as saying at a press conference.

She said the cancellation aimed to "slow the spread of COVID-19, reduce the number of people infected and to protect those who are more vulnerable to severe illness".

The Ministry of Education will be working with schools and universities to reduce gatherings as they are able to, she added.

Over the weekend, Auckland's Pasikifa Festival as well as the March 15 Christchurch terrorist attacks memorial service were cancelled due to the pandemic.

The government will announce New Zealand's economic response to the pandemic on Tuesday.

The country on Sunday two more cases of the virus, taking the total number of infections to 19, with no death.