Health Minister Chris Hipkins has urged New Zealanders to stop spreading unverified rumours, after one particular rumour “spread like wildfire” on social media.

Hipkins said the rumour contained a number of “vile slurs”.

“Not only was it harmful and dangerous it was totally and utterly wrong,” Hipkins said.

He took the unusual step of opening Sunday’s daily Covid-19 press conference with a plea to New Zealanders to hold back from sharing unverified information.

“Please think twice before sharing unverified information,” Hipkins said. He also thanked media for not reporting the claims.

Hipkins said the rumour was creating “extreme stress” for the family at the centre of the cluster.

There are concerns that the rumours have targeted the Pacific and Māori communities, who represent the majority of infected people in the current cluster.

Persistent rumour-spreading could discourage people from getting a test, he said.

Director-general of Health Ashley Bloomfield also weighed in, saying that people in the Māori and Pacific communities had done more than their share for the community, by coming forward to get tested at higher rates than other groups in New Zealand during the first outbreak, despite having lower rates of infection.

“There should be nothing in the description of this outbreak that suggests that there is anything about this community that is a problem.

“They have been incredibly cooperative and incredibly supportive and we should all be thanking and supporting them,” Bloomfield said.

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The particular rumour involved the claim that a woman in the current cluster contracted the virus by sneaking into a managed isolation facility, Hipkins said.

“It was fully investigated and that investigation concluded that it was completely false,” Hipkins said.

He said the rumour may have been orchestrated.

“There have always been and will always be rumours, but this one smacked of orchestration [and] of being a deliberate act of misinformation,” Hipkins said.

He did not know who in particular was pushing the rumour.

“This sort of information is deliberately deigned to create fear and confusion,” he said.

Hipkins said his warning applied to everyone including his Cabinet colleagues. This could be awkward for Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters who this week shared an unverified rumour about the latest cluster coming through a border breach.

“I think all ministers, all MPs, and all leaders in the community should lead by example and be cautious about the information that they choose to share,” Hipkins said.