One man has died from COVID-19 in Waikato Hospital and there is one new imported case in managed isolation today.

The man that died was in his 50s and had been in intensive care at Waikato Hospital.

He died on Tuesday afternoon.

The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the man's whanau has asked to tell the country that coronavirus is so real and to be vigilant and cautious.

'They have issued a plea to all New Zealanders that if you are sick and have symptoms stay home and seek advice about getting a test.

'Our thoughts are most sincerely with this man's family and friends during a difficult time, and also for his iwi Ngāti Raukawa who have lost a rangatira who was prominent in the iwi's history.”

The imported case is a woman in her 30s who arrived from Dubai on September 9.

Ashley says she is related to new cases reported yesterday.

There are currently 79 active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand – 52 are in the community and 27 are imported.

There are currently three people in hospital with COVID-19. Two are in intensive care.

There are 57 people linked to the Auckland community cluster who remain in an Auckland quarantine facility and that includes 27 people who have tested positive as well as household contacts.

Since the first case was identified in the Auckland cluster, contact tracing teams have identified 4139 close contacts of cases, of which 4046 have been contacted and are self-isolating, says Ashley.

"We are in the process of contacting the rest."

Earlier: The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield will provide an update on COVID-19 at 1pm today.

SunLive will provide an update for those who are not able to tune into the livestream.

The numbers as they stand

On Tuesday, there were three new cases reported - all in managed isolation.

There were no community cases.

The three cases are a man in his 30s and two children who arrived together from Dubai on September 9.

They had been in managed isolation at the Ibis Hotel in Rotorua and tested positive for COVID-19 during routine testing around day 3 of their stay, says a statement from the Ministry of Health.

"There are 56 people linked to the community cluster who remain in the Auckland quarantine facility, which includes 26 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and their household contacts.

"Since August 11, our contact tracing team has identified 3779 close contacts of cases, of which 3772 have been contacted and are self-isolating, and we are in the process of contacting the rest."

Today, there are four people in hospital with COVID-19 – one is in isolation on a ward in Auckland City Hospital, and one is in isolation on a ward in Middlemore. Two are in ICU, at North Shore and Waikato hospitals.

"With today's three new cases and 16 additional recovered cases, our total number of active cases is 83," says the ministry.

"Of those, 28 are imported cases in MIQ facilities, and 55 are community cases.

"Our total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 is now 1450, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization."

Yesterday, laboratories processed 4402 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 872,444.

-Additional reporting RNZ