Wellington's Mayor says it's inevitable Covid-19 will spread beyond Auckland and Waikato

A person understood to be a close contact of a Hamilton East case... has tested positive in Kawhia today - outside the North Waikato Level Three boundary.

Andy Foster says he expects Covid to eventually spread to Wellington.

He says in reality, its a truck drive or one person away from getting into any community now.

Foster says vaccination is the answer now, not lockdowns.

More than 91 percent of Wellington's eligible population has had at least one dose.

Meanwhile, Waikato District Health Board has set up a testing station at Lake Karapiro, south of Cambridge, but officials won't reveal if there's a case in town.

Waipa Deputy Mayor Liz Stolwyk says she hasn't heard anything official - only rumours - and she's been told to wait until the one-pm announcement.