A Cambridge man who allegedly faked a positive COVID-19 test result was unable to appear in court on Friday because he claims he's been crossing the boundary into Auckland.
The 27-year-old was charged on Thursday night with altering his Ministry of Health text message, a move police say caused unnecessary distress in the Waikato town.
Police say he undertook a COVID-19 test on Monday and received a negative result via text on Wednesday.
It’s alleged he then edited that official text message to say that he was positive for COVID-19.
Newshub understands at least one business was forced to close after the man told people he was positive, when he was not.
The 27-year-old was refused entry to court on Friday by security staff conducting pre-entry safety checks.
They asked him whether he'd crossed the boundary to Auckland recently, he replied he had and so was unable to appear- it's understood he is an essential worker.
Area commander Will Loughrin has described the altering of the text message as extremely disappointing behaviour that has caused unnecessary distress for a number of people in the Cambridge community.
