Students who planned a “ Covid -positive party” have been slammed as “stupid” by police who broke up the event.
Organisers had tested positive for the virus - which has killed nearly six million people worldwide to date - and called on others also suffering with symptoms to attend the get-together.
Unimpressed police broke up the planned party before it became a super-spreader event among the student population of Dunedin, New Zealand, Otago Daily Times reported.
Senior Sergeant Anthony Bond said: “They had cancelled their party as some of the occupants have tested positive for Covid.
“However, instead of cancelling, the occupants were still looking to have a 'Covid-positive party' involving all their friends who had tested positive.
"Police advised them that this is a stupid idea and anyone that is infected should be self-isolating and not travelling around to other addresses.
"Police will continue to check on this address throughout the evening, but hope that common sense will prevail."
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The return of thousands of students to the area with poor weather conditions has turned Dunedin into a Covid hotspot recently.
Making matters worse, several of the students are yet to have receive their booster jabs.
It comes as in England Covid infection levels have fallen to one in 25 people, but rates are highest among primary school children.
The latest figures by the ONS show infection rates falling on the whole in England, down from one in 20 the previous week, except in the south-east where the trend was labelled "uncertain".
In England, infections varied across all age groups in the week ending February 19, with 2.1 million people said to have had the virus in private households.
But infections were highest for those aged two years and up to school Year 6 at 4.84%
Infections were lowest for those aged 70 years and over at 2.08%.
The figures don't take into account people living in hospitals , care homes and/or other communal establishments.
In Scotland there was an increase in Covid cases week-on-week, up from one in 25, or 219,300 people, to one in 20, or 240,700.
In Wales, the estimate is down from one in 25, or 112,600 people, to one in 30, or 98,200, although the ONS described the trend in the most recent week as "uncertain".
And for Northern Ireland, the trend is also uncertain, with the proportion of people with Covid-19 broadly unchanged (one in 14, down from one in 13) and the total down from 146,600 to 132,700.
