The COVID-19 cases in Waikato are a "difficult to contact trace" group of people which is why the virus hasn't been stamped out there yet, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.
There have been 97 cases in the region so far, six of which were announced on Wednesday.
Hipkins says cases are still emerging in Waikato and it "is not fully contained yet", with infections still in central Hamilton.
He believes there could be a long tail to this region's outbreak, but still thinks it is possible to stamp it out, despite the difficulty around reaching parts of the community.
"They're in a more difficult to reach part of the community," Hipkins said during the 1pm COVID-19 update on Wednesday.
"I'm not saying [that they're being uncooperative]. I'm just saying that as with some of the other groups that we've dealt with, this is a more difficult to contact trace group of cases."
He wouldn't share any details or explain what he meant by this.
Parts of Waikato have been in alert level 3 restrictions for just over three weeks, but these will ease slightly from midnight on Wednesday. Any areas in lockdown will have their restrictions reduced to the same setting Auckland is currently at.
"The Government has followed public health advice. Waikato cases are predominantly confined to one network and there have not been any major exposure events," Hipkins says.
"We're not, however, comfortable enough yet to drop settings any lower while we continue to see new cases emerge."
He says while 15,000 tests have been done over the past five days, the situation isn't yet fully contained and he's unable to say when that's likely to be.
"At this stage, we remain committed to stamping COVID-19 out."
These settings will be reviewed on Monday, alongside Auckland's alert level restrictions.
