Omicron phase 3: More stress on Northland healthcare but education, business sectors hail move

The queue at Whangārei's Covid testing station at Winger Cres yesterday as cases soared. We're now in phase 3 of the Omicron response, which will rely more on rapid antigen tests. Photo / Michael Cunningham

The country's transition to phase 3 of the Omicron response plan puts additional stress on Northland's primary care as the rollout of rapid antigen tests (RATs) begins with minimal preparation time.

Coast to Coast Kaipara GP practice owner Dr Tim Malloy says the demand for RATs, which have only become available in the last couple of days, is huge as more people become symptomatic or close contacts.

However, the jump to making RATs the primary testing method under phase 3 wasn't consulted with general practitioners, giving them no time to prepare or plan for the increased use of RATs.

"Demand has nothing to do with RATs sales but due to the fact that Omicron is rampant in the community and therefore the demand is.

"This is in the effect of the overwhelming nature of the problem, which is the pandemic. But, an opportunity to prepare for this before taking on the RATs would have been much appreciated.

"A little bit of forward planning and inclusion of GPs in the decision-making would have also been much appreciated, but it did not happen."

Coast to Coast Health Care general practice co-owner Dr Tim Malloy says GPs did not have enough time to prepare or plan for the increasing use of RATs. Photo / Adam Pearse

Although the intention of the change was to provide care in the community and avoid overwhelming issues at secondary care providers, Malloy said it was difficult to predict what the impact would be on the whole health system.

"For the last two years of Covid, we have been telling people to get tested and now we are basically saying don't get tested until you absolutely have to.

"Furthermore, the care that you are likely to require will often be minimal and you are going to be responsible for yourself."

Malloy urged the community to not take their frustration out on healthcare workers, who are doing their jobs and not the ones making decisions around the accessibility of RATs.

"It is incredibly complicated and the algorithms for who is eligible or who is not sometimes change on a daily basis.

"This makes it difficult for us to then know who is getting what, which therefore makes it incredibly difficult for the public."

Northland's business sector, on the other hand, welcomed the transition.

Kaitaia Business Association chairwoman Andrea Panther said most people would be happy with the change because there was a lot of pressure on staff during the previous phases.

"There has quite a strong signalling from some people that they have stopped scanning and other measures because they don't want to go through all the isolation and testing.

"There are complaints about how long the testing is taking and we totally get that the system is overwhelmed with testing.

"The transition is definitely a positive move."

Kaitaia Business Association chairwoman Andrea Panther says the transition to phase 3 is a positive move. Photo / Myjanne Jensen

However, Panther said it would become more challenging for the employees in the sector.

"Up until last night, they had a little more protection in that if they did feel more comfortable to isolate, they could.

"It is great for businesses, but it will be harder for employees if some of them choose to do the self-isolation."

Panther said many hospitality businesses in Northland were struggling with staff shortages and every change has had a negative impact on the region.

"Northland has been disadvantaged the entire way and it has just been compounding. There are a lot of things that are against Northland that are desperately crying out for some assistance.

"There are definitely people who are fighting for Northland, but the region has definitely been at a more disadvantage than the rest of the country, through the whole two years."

Many businesses in Kaitaia that had ordered RATs had not received them yet, Panther said.

"I know people are a little frustrated at how slowly that's happening as well."

Meanwhile, Whangārei Girls' High principal Anne Cooper is hopeful phase 3 will help with staff shortages and student attendance.

Cooper said the transition meant they were not required to undertake contact tracing to the extent they were doing it till now, which would save a lot of time.

Whangārei Girls' High School principal Anne Cooper is hopeful phase 3 of the Omicron response plan will help with staff shortages and student attendance. Photo / Michael Cunningham

"It also means we will not have pressure on our staff. They will now only need to isolate themselves if they are sick, and the same goes for the kids.

"There will always be an element of anxiety in the community, but we will keep encouraging our students to come back to school. Our students and staff have been really good at wearing their masks and that is a very critical factor."

Cooper said in addition to students and staff responding well to the protocols in place, they also had their system set up if anything changed at a moment's notice and distance learning would kick in.