Councillor David Benson-Pope believes Mr Radich is not taking the Covid-19 situation seriously enough and he is angry the mayor has not officially told council staff he has Covid-19.
WellSouth Primary Health Network issued a public alert in a social media post about the spike last Friday, the same day Mr Radich discovered he had Covid-19 after completing a rapid-antigen test.
On Saturday he confirmed deputy mayor Cherry Lucas would be acting mayor while he recovered.
Mr Radich also said the news of the spike and his positive test result had come as a surprise, but he had not seen the need to issue a public health alert to Dunedin citizens.
"The number of cases as shown from the graph is not that high ... but there is certainly a big spike in the wastewater," he said.
"The spike is showing a peak [and] we might be a little bit after the peak now, so I don’t think there’s need for great alarm."
Regardless, he recommended people remained vigilant.
He said he had not heard of any other councillors or council staff who had fallen ill with the virus as of Saturday.
Yesterday, Dunedin city councillor David Benson-Pope was concerned the council had known there was a spike in Covid in the wastewater numbers, and had failed to say anything about it publicly.
"I think council had a responsibility to make the public aware of that information that we had last week.
"I’m glad that it finally made it in to the paper on Saturday.
"But I was told about it on Friday, so we were behind the eight-ball, shall we say.
"I certainly don’t agree with what he [Mr Radich] said about the situation.
"I think we had a responsibility to the community to make sure people knew as soon as possible, and we missed out — we failed in that duty."
He was also concerned he had learned of Mr Radich’s Covid diagnosis through the grapevine, rather than official channels.
"As an aside, there’s still been no official communication to elected members that the mayor has got Covid.
"I don’t know whether he has told any of the people he was circulating with on Friday — I find that a bit strange as well.
"It’s irresponsible.
"It’s pretty clear, this disease is killing a lot of people, not just vulnerable people, and I think people need to be alerted when these situations happen, and I think we missed the opportunity to do that responsibly."
Mr Radich said he intended to follow recommendations to isolate for five days, continue to test, and would take a "cautious approach" to avoid the effects of long Covid.
"People have taken a Covid infection too lightly, and I think it’s very important to take it easy."
"I am making a point of taking it very easy and not, while I feel well enough, to be out and about and doing things."
"Because we’re all vaccinated and Covid is not that debilitating, the temptation is to get out and about and continue doing things."
"To me, the aim of the game is now that I’ve caught Covid is to make a point of resting and really enforcing that rest for a week on myself."
Public Health director Dr Nick Jones has reminded people who were at high risk to make sure they were up to date with their Covid-19 booster and to use antiviral medications early if they were infected with the virus.
"We will continue to see fluctuations in Covid-19 cases and deaths, as it is still present in the community.
"These waves are likely due to people’s immunity waning and the introduction of new hybrid variants which increase the community’s susceptibility.
"If you are unwell, stay away from friends and family at higher risk of getting very sick, such as babies, older people, immunocompromised and disabled people.
"It is also especially important to wear a face mask in closed, crowded or confined spaces."
