The board "met" by teleconference yesterday, its first gathering since the Covid-19 crisis fully gripped the region.
Mr Fleming set out the staff response to the pandemic so far, and praised their efforts in trying to stem it when the South has more cases than any other part New Zealand.
"We are now looking towards what is going to happen in two, three or four weeks’ time, rather than probably three weeks ago when we were looking at what was going to happen in the next hour or two," Mr Fleming said.
"There are still acute health needs and mental health needs, we need to ensure we maintain the health system, we need to put effort and energy into looking after our health community and supporting the wider community ... the Level 4 lockdown has been very stressful for our community, and I do not expect that we are going to move rapidly from Level 4 down to Level 2 or 1 or out of any controls."
Hospitals are operating in a four-stage framework indicating ability to cope with Covid-19. In a scale from 1 (normal service) to 4 (capacity exceeded) the SDHB was operating somewhere between 2 (manageable demand) and 3 (capacity compromised), Mr Fleming said.
"We have had community transmission but our capacity is comfortably manageable, and both our main hospitals, Dunedin and Invercargill, are sitting at about 50% occupancy at the moment."
If those hospitals became flooded with Covid-19 cases there were options for makeshift hospitals, with hotels and other building owners having offered their services already.
"If the situation deteriorates, we are ready to move relatively quickly ... the issue won’t be availability, it will be more resourcing and the ability to staff them."
Chief medical officer Nigel Millar said staff were still concerned about the availability and supply of personal protective equipment.
"We don’t recommend that they should use masks at the moment; the biggest deciding factor about that at the moment is surety of supply and it is difficult to get a clear picture to know if we have enough available in the country or coming into the country."
Dr Millar said while staff who needed masks would have them, his preference until supply of masks was assured was to keep them in reserve for future demand.
"If staff have uncertainty, I say, ‘would you rather have masks in the future for a time when you may actually have to go into a room with a patient with Covid-19?’."
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You won't see us out of Level 4 until the curve is eradicated. With quarantine now established, indeed, we may see Level 3 by the 23rd. However, the government is commited to this now, we have invested our losses into it. The upcoming election will prove interesting. Interesting in that we may have well overshot this and caused more financial pain than was nessessary, OR, that Singapore got it wrong. Professor Dale Fisher is the Chair of Infection Control at the National University Hospital of Singapore, interesting how they dealt with Covid with NO lockdown ........In the meantime, we shall continue to do as we're told, and look forward to ad hock policies and tax increases to pay for all the damage.
Dr Ashley Bloomfield repeatedly stated we have 18 million masks, and no lack of supply.
Where are these mythical masks of his? Or was the good doctor telling porkies?
Come on, ODT - you have investigative journalists. Investigate!