There are 455 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in the South today, as the Ministry of Health moved to explain the larger increase compared with previous days.
There are 3297 new cases in the community nationally and eight at the border.
The updated figures come amid a warning from health authorities that Otago and Southland could have as many as 1200 Covid-19 cases, and many more to come.
Escalating case numbers in the past two days - particularly in the student quarter - meant the total of 690 active cases in the South was probably closer to double that, a spokeswoman for the Southern DHB said.
"The Southern district, particularly Dunedin, has a large population that is registered with a general practitioner in another area of New Zealand ... It is estimated that total case numbers in the Southern district is closer to 1200."
In a statement this afternoon, the Ministry of Health said that in recent days, the number of cases reported for Southern DHB has been lower than the true number because a large number of people have tested positive who have National Health Numbers linked to a home address outside of the Southern DHB region - these cases have been included in other regions’ case counts.
"A large number of people who returned a positive result in the Southern region yesterday who have addresses outside of the region are included in Southern’s case count today after work by health officials to reclassify the cases. This explains why there is a larger increase in Southern’s cases reported today compared with previous days.
"It is important to note that a case undercount anywhere in the country does not significantly impact our assessment of the outbreak, public health decision-making or public health advice.
"Based on overseas experiences, the Ministry of Health has been expecting the true number of community cases to be higher than the cases reported each day and this has been factored into our Omicron planning."
Location of new community cases* are: Northland (40), Auckland (1,729), Waikato (297), Bay of Plenty (157), Lakes (54), Hawke’s Bay (18), MidCentral (56), Whanganui (5), Taranaki (30), Tairāwhiti (16), Wairarapa (16), Capital and Coast (123), Hutt Valley (28), Nelson Marlborough (85), Canterbury (176), South Canterbury (7), Southern (455), West Coast (3).
There are 179 people in hospitals around the country, the majority in Auckland, and one person in intensive care or a high-dependency unit.
*Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.
Worried well still getting tested
With Covid-19 spreading rapidly, the Ministry today said "a significant number" of concerned people who don’t need a test are continuing to turn up at testing centres. These people don't have symptoms and aren't a contact of a case.
It stressed the importance of the right people being tested for the right reasons.
People should only get tested if they have cold or flu symptoms, have been identified as a close contact of a case, or have been asked to get tested by a health official.
Meanwhile, Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) will be used as the primary test at Auckland community testing centres (CTCs) from today to help meet demand for testing as the Omicron outbreak grows.
The move, which is part of the Ministry of Health’s planned testing strategy, follows RATs being rolled out to centres in Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Southern yesterday to be used in conjunction with PCR tests in those centres.
RATS will be rolled out to CTCs at other centres across the country this week. The site will determine which test is best.
There are 6.9 million Rapid Antigen Tests available in New Zealand as of Wednesday afternoon.
2.2 million now boosted
More than 2.2 million New Zealanders have got their booster shot so far.
The Ministry said a high rate of booster doses across the country will lower the number of people becoming severely ill from the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid and ensure there's capacity in the health system for anyone who needs care.
There were 25,367 booster doses administered yesterday. People are eligible for a booster dose if it has been more than three months since their second dose.
- ODT Online
