There have been calls for the entire North Island to return to Alert Level 3 after two Covid-19 cases were discovered outside the regional Level 3 boundary in the Waikato.
Waipā District mayor Jim Mylchreest told NZME on Wednesday he believes containing the virus by extending the current North Waikato border will be "really challenging".
He suggests the entire North Island should return to a lockdown for the safety of regions outside of Auckland and the Waikato.
"Once it gets into the Waikato, from a practical point of view and I'm certainly no expert, but you've simply just got to look at the geography and the number of roads radiating out from the Waikato. It's not as easy as blocking off Auckland," Mylchreest said.
"So practically, I don't know if it's going to be possible, but we've got to try and contain it because there's still a lot of people out there that aren't vaccinated and we're still likely to overwhelm our health services."
Mylchreest told 1News he's advising locals to stay calm in the current climate and that these new cases prove how determined Delta is to spread far and wide in the community.
He added the best way to combat the virus is to get vaccinated and encouraged those in his district to book in for their jabs as soon as possible.
Health officials said they are reviewing the current boundaries put in place but are yet to make any formal decisions.
The two cases - one in Kāwhia and the other in Karapiro - were part of nine new cases announced in Waikato on Wednesday, taking the total number of active cases for the region to 18.
In response, additional pop-up testing sites have been set up across the Waikato for anyone who may have symptoms of the virus.
Locals who have been at any locations of interest in the Waikato are also being asked to get tested.
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