Covid 19 coronavirus: More testing in isolated Northland communities

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said more Covid-19 testing is taking place in Northland this week.

More Covid-19 testing is going on in Northland this week, with Director-General of Health
Dr Ashley Bloomfield saying there will be a particular focus on Māori in isolated areas.

At today's Covid-19 update, Bloomfield said there is one new death and six new cases of the virus in New Zealand.

The new death takes the national total toll to 14. She was a woman in her 80s from the Rosewood rest home cluster in Christchurch where seven others have died.

Bloomfield said the total number of cases nationally is now 1451. So far, 1036 have recovered. There are 11 people in hospital, with two of them in intensive care.

There are no new cases in Northland, which has had 27 so far, with just over half of them recovered.

Bloomfield said yesterday there were 5289 tests - a record high. There have been more than 94,000 tests.

He said there is wider testing across New Zealand, with a specific focus on Māori and Pasifika, in places like Northland.

He said in Northland health officials were working with iwi and community health providers to get more tests done, particularly in more out of the way communities.

''We want to get out into those more remote parts of the area to make sure there are no undetected cases out there,'' Bloomfield said.

Extended community testing specifically targeted at rural communities with a high population of Māori should give Northland more confidence in preparation for next week's alert level 3.

Dr Catherine Jackson, Northland District Health Board's Medical Officer of Health, said nine Māori health providers would reach into the smaller communities via mobile services.

"The providers have well-established relationships with their communities and whanau, experienced staff and established mobile health services," Jackson said.

"Although testing rates for Māori are higher than for non-Māori across all parts of Te Tai Tokerau, there are still some areas where access is harder due to the remote location."

Jackson said concerns had been raised particularly for kaumatua and kuia who were reluctant to come out of their bubbles and communities because they were worried about putting themselves at risk.

Māori are at higher risk of been seriously affected by Covid-19, due to underlying health issues, with higher rates of cardiovascular, respiratory and kidney diseases, diabetes and cancer.

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