People in Tauranga are being urged to get a test following a Covid-positive wastewater result.
ESR wastewater testing detected a positive result from a sample collected on September 23, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said at the 1pm briefing on Tuesday.
Bloomfield said unexpected wastewater results can be due to a "recovered case there who is excreting viral fragments or an undetected acute case".
He said usual protocols would be to wait for a second test but given the outbreak relates to the Delta outbreak in Auckland, health officials are "appealing" to those in the region to get a test if symptomatic or have visited a location of interest.
So far only several hundred people have been swabbed in the Bay of Plenty with just a slight increase on normal daily testing numbers in Tauranga.
Testing capacity has been extended since the wastewater result was reported.
Follow up wastewater samples have been taken from Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and nearby areas with the results expected on Thursday.
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