Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: 3 in Northland hospitals; confusion over case numbers

Three people are in Northland hospitals with Covid-19 infections. Photo / Tania Whyte

Northlanders had a case of confusion on Friday as differences between Covid case reporting continues between the Northland DHB and the Ministry of Health.

The Ministry of Health reported 133 new community cases of Covid-19 in Northland on Friday, which is almost three times Friday's new case number from Northland DHB of 45.

The difference in the daily numbers has been a source of confusion recently so the Advocate contacted Northland DHB for some clarity after several discrepancies between the two groups emerged.

Currently, the Northland DHB and the Ministry of Health have different reporting cutoff times, which causes differences in reported daily case numbers between the two bodies.

After the Advocate inquired, the Northland DHB have also said they are not receiving rapid antigen test (RAT) results, so the DHB's case numbers reported daily are only based on results from PCR tests done in the region.

This week, the Ministry of Health has begun to separate reports of new community cases between the two testing methods. These reports do not include the specific locations of the cases inside the region.

Northland DHB communications manager Liz Inch said until the data-reporting systems line up there will continue to be a difference between case numbers reported by the MOH and the DHB.

"We don't have a date for the alignment, they are working on it nationally and with the RAT testing coming on board there will need to be further alignment." Inch said.

Ministry of Health numbers:

The Ministry of Health reported a total of 133 new community cases in Northland on Friday, with 46 confirmed by PCR test and 87 confirmed by RAT.

The ministry only reports the regional location of new cases so the specific locations of the 87 RAT cases are unknown.

The ministry reported there were three Covid-positive cases in Northland hospitals on Friday.

Nationally, cases almost doubled overnight with 12,011 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand on Friday.

Five patients with Covid-19 were reported by the ministry to have died on Friday - two were cared for in North Shore, two in Waikato and one in Tauranga.

Northland DHB numbers:

Earlier on Friday the Northland DHB incorrectly reported that the Ministry of Health would report 220 new cases in Northland on the day — 87 from PCR tests and 133 from RATs.

"A team member made a mistake this morning and used the total number for PCR and RATs, they have fixed that up now," Inch said.

Northland DHB reported 45 new Covid cases based on PCR tests in the community on Friday.

Another 20 new cases were reported in Dargaville and Whangārei had the next highest number of new daily cases with 14, followed by six in Kerikeri, two in Kaikohe and two in Kaeo.

One new case remains under investigation and may be transferred to other regions after their whereabouts are pinpointed.

The new cases take Northland's number of active cases to 440 from a total of 661 since October 22 last year.

Northland Covid 19 testing and vaccination information can be found at the Northland District Health Board website www.northlanddhb.org.nz/home/covid-19/.