Three people in New Plymouth have tested positive for Covid-19.
In a post to Facebook, Taranaki District Health Board said the three cases are one adult and two children who are all a part of the same household.
"Our Public Health Unit is already conducting interviews and getting contact tracing underway," Taranaki DHB said.
The family have a known link to an existing case in Rotorua, the Ministry of Health confirmed in a statement this evening.
"The Ministry is providing an out of sequence update to encourage testing and vaccination in Taranaki tomorrow when testing and vaccination centres reopen."
The DHB is urging any locals with cold or flu-like symptoms to get tested even if they're mild.
People who have also travelled outside the region recently or are a close contact of a positive case are being asked to get tested.
Any locations of interest will be identified and published on the Ministry of Health website as soon as they are known.
On Thursday, 172 new community cases were announced. 142 new cases were in Auckland and 10 in the Nelson-Tasman region.
"There continues to be a daily review of testing numbers and testing locations to ensure good coverage of risk areas," the Ministry of Health said.
New Plymouth will enter the orange stage of the traffic light system tomorrow.
Taranaki has reached the 90 per cent goal for first doses while 82 per cent are fully vaccinated.
A new case has also been recorded in Whitianga, in an email the Waikato DHB said the person is double vaccinated and isolating.
It is understood to be an isolated case with a low risk of community spread.
Two testing centres will be open tomorrow and across the weekend in New Plymouth and Hāwera.
• Taranaki Base Hospital: Fri 8am-8pm, Sat & Sun 8am-4pm
• Hāwera Hospital: Fri, Sat & Sun 9am-3pm
