A weak Covid-19 positive result from Papatoetoe wastewater does "not pose a risk to the community", according to the Ministry of Health.
Today's daily test results statement from health officials includes information about recent wastewater testing which is used to detect any hidden spread of the virus in the the community.
"We can also report that four wastewater testing samples — three from a site linked to Papatoetoe and one from a wider wastewater collection point, which includes Papatoetoe — last night returned negative results for Covid-19 detection," it reads.
The statement then details a previous result that came back with a weak positive.
"This follows a weak positive test result detected on Friday in routine wastewater sampling at the site linked to Papatoetoe, which has been assessed as not posing a risk to the community.
"The most likely explanation for the weak positive detection is continued shedding of the virus from the recovered Covid-19 cases from the February cluster who have returned home from the Auckland quarantine facility.
"We know that people who have recently had Covid-19 may continue to shed fragments of the virus for some weeks after they have recovered, without being infectious to others. Wastewater sampling can detect these fragments, which are not infectious and their presence is not considered a risk to the community."
The Ministry of Health says today's negative wastewater results from the same area "provides good evidence" to support the theory laid out above.
It has been just over two weeks since the last case of Covid-19 was detected in the community. Today there were two new cases in managed isolation.
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