The DHB said the new cases are a West Otago woman in her 50s, a Dunedin woman in her 30s, a Dunedin woman in her 20s and a Wanaka teenager have today been announced as having been diagnosed with Covid-19.
This brings the total cases in the Southern district to 13, 12 confirmed and one probable.
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Only one of the cases matches the Ministry of Health list released this afternoon, but it is unclear the other three cases are in addition to the 36 cases announced by the Ministry today.
The West Otago woman, and Dunedin woman in her 30s, both attended the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown from 9-13 March.
The Dunedin woman in her 20s has recently returned from travel from US, while the Wanaka teenager has returned after travelling to Europe. Both have been in self-isolation since their return to New Zealand.
All four individuals are mildly unwell and are at home.
All cases were in isolation and around 100 close contacts are being identified and tracked by Public Health staff. Close contacts are asked to self-isolate for 14 days, and everyone is asked to monitor their health and contact Healthline should they experience cough, fever or have difficulty breathing.
The DHB said there was an increasing risk of community transmission.
"This is because cases are infectious for 48 hours before symptoms arise, many cases have very mild symptoms and may delay contacting their health provider, and some confirmed cases have been very social and active before their diagnosis and while infectious.
"Again, we call upon the community to provide support to and respect the privacy of the affected people, and we thank everyone who for cooperating with requests to self-isolate.
"If everyone follows the Alert Level 3 and 4 actions then we can significantly reduce the risk of widespread illness in the coming weeks. If we all do the right thing now this will help protect us all."
Location alerts
Southern DHB is alerting people in a number of locations across New Zealand that they may have come into contact with people who tested positive for Covid-19 this week.
As part of its contact tracing process, it is important for public health teams to notify the public about the movements of infectious cases to maintain awareness of possible transmission and ensure everyone monitors their own health.
A number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 attended the World Hereford Conference (9-13 March in Queenstown with post conference tours around the South Island.)
Conference attendees had been notified and asked to self-isolate for 14 days from last exposure.
Those who worked at the conference are considered to be casual contacts and have not been asked to self-isolate but should monitor their health and immediately self-isolate and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever, sore throat or difficulty breathing.
The following locations relate to possible casual contacts by members of the public that can’t be identified through contact tracing. Casual contacts are people who may have come into contact with the individual, but for less than 15 minutes and/or at a distance of more than two metres.
The risk in these instances is considered to be low. Those who believed they may have come into contact with the case are advised to monitor their health and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if they develop symptoms such as a cough, fever, sore throat or difficulty breathing.
The warnings relate to the following locations:
1.Wishbone Café, Dunedin Public Hospital, 15 March, 1.30-2pm -Casual contact – low risk
2. Mitre 10 South Dunedin, 15 March 3-4pm, Casual contact – low risk
3.Integrated Health and Physio, Dunedin Hospital, 16 March, 8-8.45am - Casual contacts – low risk
4.Hotel Sudima Restaurant, Christchurch, 19 March, 7-7.30am - Casual contact – low risk
5.Cheviot Tearooms -19 March 1-2pm, Casual contact – low risk
DHB cancels outpatient services
The SDHB has cancelled all outpatient services and elective surgery across the district, but would maintain essential services and urgent care, chief executive Chris Fleming said.
"Where possible, we will use telehealth for consultations, which is where clinicians will use phone or video links to treat people in their own homes.
"In cases where it is essential to see a clinician, we will contact patients to arrange the best option for their treatment.”
Hospitals will be accessible through one entrance only, and visitors will only be allowed to enter hospitals on compassionate grounds.
Hospitals had the flexibility to utilise other clinical areas as intensive care beds if required, and plans were in place in Southern DHB to do that, Mr Fleming said.
"Southland has 6 ICU beds and can comfortably sustain two ventilated patients short term. We will often send patients to Dunedin for longer term ventilation.
"Lakes District Hospital does not have ICU beds. They intubate and then send patients on with immediacy.
"Dunedin has 12 ICU beds and 12 ventilators and there are plans in place to increase this capacity by eight in the short term."
