The mother of a baby who is one of New Zealand's youngest COVID-19 cases says she was shocked to hear her 11-month-old had caught the virus - and she doesn't know how he did.
Six babies under the age of 1 have tested positive so far out of the country's total 562 community cases.
Both the 11-month-old and his mum, who doesn't want to be identified, are isolating at the Jet Park quarantine facility.
She says getting the call that her son tested positive didn't feel real.
"They rang me from a 'no caller ID' and I honestly thought it was a joke. I instantly went into shock," she tells Newshub.
The boy has a feeding tube in his stomach and last week his parents took him to get it checked. He had a cough along with cold and flu symptoms, so was given a routine COVID-19 test.
"It was a little bit more barky than what just your general sickness cough would be," his mother says.
"He had a bit of a temperature that we just couldn't get down the weekend that they have kind of put it down to him being in the infectious period."
The 11-month-old had recently started daycare. His parents thought he had picked up the usual bugs from being around new children.
But the positive COVID-19 result came as a complete surprise and his mother has no idea how it's linked to the current outbreak.
"I haven't, or we haven't, been at any locations of interest. No family member or, you know, close friend that we've been in close contact with has tested positive, so it is a real mystery," she says.
She had visited one location, but before the times listed by the Ministry of Health. She's been told it's unlikely it's a false positive test result because her baby has COVID symptoms.
"He's doing really well. We've had a couple of bumps in the road, a couple of high temperatures that he's been fighting and some low oxygen," she says.
"He got his temperature checked again this morning and it's coming down, so we are back in the normal range."
Her baby was named as the youngest COVID-19-positive case last week. But on Tuesday, it was revealed that five other babies aged under 1 year old have the virus too.
"This for me is a reminder of why, for now, our elimination strategy is so important and why we all need to get vaccinated," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday.
The baby's mum hopes that her son's positive test result will show others that there's nothing to be ashamed of if you get the virus.
"Other parents that think their children may have it, just go get them tested and just make sure because clearly this Delta variant does come into play with children and babies."
