The man accused of falsifying a text to state he was COVID-19 positive did not make a plea when he appeared at Hamilton District Court on Monday.
Devon Stock, 27, was last week charged with editing an official text message which said he returned a negative COVID-19 test result.
The Ministry of Health said Stock undertook a COVID-19 test on September 20 and received his negative result two days later.
Police said the accused then contacted a number of people informing them he had tested positive and one of them contacted police.
This caused unnecessary stress in the Cambridge community, police said.
Stock did not make a plea and has been remanded to reappear in court next month.
RNZ