Four active Covid-19 cases isolating in Ruapehu District, Waikato DHB says

There are now four confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the Ruapehu District. Photo / NZME

A new case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in the Ruapehu District - once again in the town of Taumarunui.

The town of around 5000 people now has four confirmed cases of Covid-19. It's not clear if the four are in the same household, but Ruapehu Mayor Don Cameron says all four are linked.

The first of the cases was discovered last Wednesday. Two additional cases were added to the tally over the weekend, while the fourth was announced on Tuesday afternoon.

There are still no locations of interest within the town, nor the wider Ruapehu District. A Ministry of Health spokesperson told the Chronicle on Monday that some locations of interest are only necessary when contacts can't be located.

"On many occasions public health staff identify exposure sites rather than locations of interest," the spokesperson said.

So far, the Ruapehu District has largely remained free of the virus.

Last week's case was the first discovered in the district during this outbreak, and only the third of the entire pandemic.

The two previous cases from last year were not residents of the district, having travelled from Auckland to visit Mt Ruapehu in March last year.

The district has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with 67 per cent of its residents fully vaccinated, with a further 9.3 per cent having had one dose.

While the majority of the Ruapehu District, including Ohakune and Raetihi, falls under the care of Whanganui DHB, the town of Taumarunui is covered by Waikato DHB.

The Waikato DHB has been battling a wider Delta outbreak across the region since the beginning of October. There were 21 cases reported in the region on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health and Waikato DHB have been contacted for comment.