Taranaki records first Omicron Covid-19 case

Taranaki has on Wednesday reported its first suspected Omicron Covid-19 case in the community, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

The positive case was on the same flight as the flight attendant linked to the Nelson Tasman family cluster.

They had been isolating since being identified as a close contact of the flight attendant, where they tested positive for Covid-19 in New Plymouth on Wednesday, the Health Ministry said.

"Whole genome sequencing is underway but, in the interim, this case is being treated as a suspected Omicron," the Health Ministry said.

"All close contacts identified to date are in isolation and being tested for Covid-19."

The case was reported after the ministry's deadline and will be added to Thursday's case numbers.

Investigations are continuing into any additional exposure events, the Ministry of Health said.

Locations of interest will be published on the Ministry of Health website as they are identified.

It brings the total number of Covid-19 community cases confirmed as the Omicron variant, or suspected Omicron cases, to 56.