A Hamilton café apologised today for causing concern after it told customers that a diner tested positive for the coronavirus.

Café Acoreano, on Washington Street, clarified that the Ministry of Health was carrying out contact tracing to determine whether anyone else should be tested.

The business wrote on its Facebook page yesterday that it took precautionary steps after a customer tested positive for Covid-19.

It encouraged other sit-in customers to get tested — but that position has now changed.

The café posted today: “It has come to our attention that our previous post (which has been removed) has caused mass hysteria.

“For that we apologise. That was never our intention.

“We are a high traffic establishment and we were only trying to inform.”

It added: “Please wait for the Ministry of Health to contact you to be tested while they go through their contact tracing process.

“Our apologies for any stress this may have caused.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to reflect the latest notice on the cafe’s Facebook page.