Clutha and Bluff are the only remaining areas in the South where wastewater testing suggests that Covid-19 cases may be on the rise.
Testing by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research in recent weeks has mirrored reported case numbers released by the Ministry of Health and suggested that the two recent waves of the Omicron variant of the pandemic disease are on the wane.
The latest ESR report showed just two of 11 southern wastewater testing locations had recorded a rise in infection rates in the week ended August 14, Clutha and Bluff.
In Queenstown, Cromwell, Alexandra, Gore and one of the Dunedin testing sites, the infection rate had held steady, while at the other two Dunedin sites, Invercargill and Wanaka rates had trended downward.
"For the week ending August 14, 26% of sites have increased SARS-CoV-2 levels compared to the previous week and 47% have decreased levels," the report said.
"Compared to a month ago, 20% of sites show an increase and 63% of sites show a decrease."
There were 144 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Otago and Southland yesterday.
Although that low figure reflected low weekend test reporting rates, it was still almost half the number of cases reported a fortnight ago.
The Ministry of Health reported a further nine deaths of people who had Covid-19, two of whom lived in southern.
There were nine people in the South’s urban hospitals who were Covid-19 positive.
