So far it hasn't.
All those considered close contacts of the visiting man are now having their day 12 Covid tests today or tomorrow.
If they come back negative like earlier tests - and with no one so far showing any symptoms of Covid - the town will likely have escaped without a single infection.
Thames Coromandel District Council mayor Sandra Goudie didn't want to pop the champagne too early, saying it was important to wait for the day 12 test results.
"Once we've done that then I will be much more comfortable that we might have dodged a bullet," she said.
The close-knit nature of the township had made the prospect of widespread infection all the more likely and scary, Jak's Cafe and Bar owner Jan Caris said.
Caris' bar had been busy when the Auckland man from the suburb of Devonport visited, and he said those at the venue would have spread out and interacted with many others afterwards.
"We are such a small community that everyone knows everyone," he said.
"We were quite worried because we are always in close contact here."
So far all Caris' staff had tested negative to the virus and he was now waiting for his day 12 test results to come back, with a final negative putting him in the clear.
"Surprised to say the least. We've dodged a bullet," he said.
Umu Cafe owner Josie Fraser said the Auckland man visited her cafe three times over the weekend, and one of her staff members served him twice.
Two of her staff had had both their Pfizer Covid vaccination shots, and a number of others had recently had their first shots.
While that may have helped, it was not likely to have been enough to have prevented Covid spread in the town, Fraser said.
"Certainly the person who served him twice would have been possibly exposed," she said.
University of Otago epidemiologist Michael Baker earlier told the Herald the fact the man who "should have been infectious over that period" did not transmit the virus might be down to "very good luck".
"Generally with the Delta variant, most people are highly infectious at certain points, but it might be that they visited a place where they weren't particularly infectious."
Goudie was also quick to praise Coromandel residents for doing the right thing.
"I tell you the people of the Coromandel have hunkered down, done all the right things," she said.
"They've got the highest vaccination rate across the Waikato region, they went out in their numbers and they got the testing done just to make sure they are doing everything right."
"So they are being rewarded by their test results to date."
Umu Cafe's Fraser is now optimistic the region might move down to less strict alert levels before Auckland.
Yet even with an alert level 3 setting, running the cafe would not be easy.
Most of Fraser's supplies come from Auckland and getting access to them with Auckland in level 4 lockdown would not be easy.
Jak's Cafe and Bar owner Jan Caris thought Coromandel might be kept in level 4 lockdown a little longer yet.
"Even though I'm a business owner it would be better to get it sorted out now rather than be sorry later, and it just keeps coming back and we go into lockdown every month or so," he said.
And as worry turned to relief in the region, the mayor shared a few practical tips to help make lockdown and mask wearing easier.
"Keep doing all the right things and wait for that final hurdle of day 12 testing," Goudie said.
"And remember, don't wear lipstick when putting on a mask.
"And if you wear glasses and want to reduce the fog, put the mask right over the bridge of you nose and leave your glasses out just a fraction.
