New Zealand announced on Tuesday, June 16 that two new cases of Covid-19 have appeared in the country, ending a 24-day streak of no new infections in the country.

Both new cases are related to recent travel from the U.K.

The two new cases were women aged in their 30s and 40s who visited a dying parent in Wellington, case details revealed.

New Zealand with its 5 million population declared the country Covid-19-free as it had no new or active cases, allowing it to be one of the first countries in the world to return to pre-pandemic levels.

It lifted all social and economic restrictions except border controls a week ago.

But the new cases are not surprising.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had warned that new cases may come up in the future as New Zealanders return home.

Both of the infected women arrived in New Zealand on June 7 from the U.K., via Doha and Brisbane and were in an isolation facility in Auckland.

They were given special permission to leave the facility to visit the dying parent in Wellington.

Both are self-isolating now.

New Zealand's success at keeping the Covid-19 pandemic at bay was largely due to strict restrictions in which most businesses were shut and everyone except essential workers had to stay home.

The country was also one of the first to allow people to watch professional sports at stadiums with no limits on crowd numbers.

This takes the total number of cases recorded in the country to 1,506 cases, while deaths from the disease remain at 22.

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