Wairoa's mayor has urged calm after a person with Covid-19 self-isolating in the town was subjected to "disgusting" online abuse.
Wairoa mayor Craig Little confirmed on Monday that Wairoa has one of the region's 16 cases.
It is understood the person was tested outside of Wairoa before travelling to the district to self-isolate.
Little said that in a time like this people need to be compassionate and thoughtful and not turn to cruelty. He said some of the comments he had read were "disgusting".
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"My heart goes out to this person and their family," he said.
"I don't want to know who this person is, my only concern is that they are okay. The person who tested positive is just a victim like the other hundreds of thousands of people in the world.
"This person could be you or one of your loved ones and we wish them the best for their recovery.
"A small amount of the comments I have seen over social media have been horrible, while most have been very supportive, some of them are just disgusting.
"Now is the time for compassion not cruelty."
A Hawke's Bay DHB spokeswoman said while they do not provide locations of any people confirmed with Covid-19, they still want people to display kindness to people during this time and support those affected.
The spokeswoman said those in home isolation were being appropriately followed up by public health and doing well and if there was any wider risk to the public the DHB would be clear and transparent about that.
Little said the positive case is Wairoa's wake up call.
"Although it's something that we didn't want to have happen I think it took a positive case in the area for people to wake up and realise how serious this is," he said.
"I've still seen people living normally during the lockdown and heard of some people going to the supermarket multiple times a week as if it is normal."
He said people need to not only look after themselves during this time but also help to look after everyone else.
"For the sake of our country and our community and our loved ones, please stay home in your bubble, isolate yourself, travel only when you absolutely have to and regularly wash your hands.
"We have one shot at this. Let's do it and do it right."
If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early by phoning the Healthline team (for free) on 0800 358 5453 or phoning your local GP practice.
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
The 25th of November is marked as White Ribbon Day around the world.