Covid-19 hospitalisations in the South have dropped markedly over the weekend, offering some relief to exhausted Dunedin Hospital staff.
On Friday, the dedicated Covid ward in the city’s hospital was at capacity, as it had been for most of last week, and across Otago and Southland there were 34 people in hospital who had Covid-19.
On Saturday that number fell to 29 and yesterday it dropped again, to 22.
The ODT reported on Friday that Dunedin Hospital staff, and especially nursing staff, had been stretched to their limit by staff shortages, illness, and a surge in Covid-19 patients requiring specialised care.
Nationally, 19 new deaths of people who had Covid-19 were reported by the Ministry of Health over the weekend, one of which was in southern.
Another 6291 community cases were reported nationally on Saturday, and 4400 yesterday.
In the southern regions 461 new cases were reported on Saturday and 367 yesterday. The reporting rate of positive cases always drops over the weekend, and especially on holiday weekends.
