A man who allegedly made off with a Northland District Health Board worker's vehicle as he was being escorted to hospital got more attention than he bargained for because the car contained a freshly taken Covid test swab.
Police had no way of knowing if the swab was positive — or had been interfered with during its unplanned detour — so they had to swing their Covid-19 protocols into action.
The vehicle was, however, quickly recovered by police with the swab still safely confined to a chilly bin.
The incident occurred late Thursday afternoon when a mental health patient ran away from his escort, jumped into a parked health board vehicle and drove away.
Northland District Health Board chief executive Nick Chamberlain said the car was attended at the time but the driver was getting something out of the boot.