Wellington, Aug 19 (IANS): New Zealand confirmed six new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, five of them from the community linked to the recent outbreak in Auckland, the health ministry said.

One case is an imported one -- a woman in her 50s who arrived in New Zealand from Qatar via Sydney on August 14. She has been in managed isolation at a hotel in Rotorua, according to the ministry.

The other five cases are in the community and they have all been linked to the recent outbreak in Auckland, said a ministry statement.

The six new cases took the country's total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases to 1,299, it said.

There are 125 people from the community who have been moved into Auckland quarantine facilities, including 61 people who have tested positive and their household contacts, the statement said.

There are five people receiving hospital-level care, one in Auckland and four in Middlemore. They have been isolated and carefully managed separately from other patients in the hospital, it said.

New Zealand's largest city Auckland will remain under Covid-19 alert level 3 till August 26 before further lockdown decisions are made, with the rest of the country staying under alert level 2 with relaxed restrictions, Xinhua news agency reported.

Under level 3, businesses are required to implement Covid-19 safety measures, but most people are encouraged to work from home.