Covid 19 coronavirus: More remote testing units open in Northland, with no undetected transmission

There were no new Covid-19 cases in Northland, the District Health Board confirmed yesterday.

Twelve people with currently active symptoms remain in self-isolation and 15 have recovered.

This comes as the number of cases country-wide rose by five yesterday, bringing the total up to 1456.

The cases were linked to overseas travel and existing clusters with one case still being investigated.

Director of public health Dr Caroline McElnay also reported the death of a man in his 60s from the Christchurch Rosewood Rest Home, bringing the death toll of that cluster to 10.

McElnay said the latest death once again illustrated the impact of the disease. She said the man had existing co-morbidities so, while he was in his 60s, he did have serious underlying health conditions.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Eight people remain in hospital with one patient in ICU care.

In total, 1095 New Zealanders have now recovered from Covid-19.

When asked about increased community testing, McElnay said district health boards had been following advice by the Ministry of Health to reach out to rural areas.

"There are quite a number of communities that have been reached out to, particularly in Northland and we're still receiving feedback from these outreach programmes," she said.

None of those additional community tests had yet picked up new cases.

Seven community-based testing centres and five mobile testing units are now active across Northland – latter completed 56 tests out of 166 Northland-wide on Thursday.

McElnay said the ministry was currently working together with DHBs to develop a targeted testing strategy that could see increased testing in aged care facilities.

The ministry also agreed to extend locum support to keep vulnerable rural general practices operating as they come under mounting pressure as a result of Covid-19.

The New Zealand Rural General Practice Network chief executive Dalton Kelly said with many surgeries cancelled and urban clinics running significantly reduced services, there are urban healthcare professionals with insufficient work.

At the same time, the chronic shortage of healthcare professionals in rural communities remains and has been exacerbated by Covid-19.

"Many of New Zealand's rural practices rely on a very small number of healthcare professionals, and that number is dropping every year. Rural practices are increasingly reliant on short-term, contract and international health workers.

"Helping rural practices access the skills and expertise of other healthcare professionals can help ensure our rural communities get through this pandemic in good shape."

‌