Still all clear in Northland

Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay - extended testing in isolated communities has not yet detected any positive cases. Picture / NZME

The Northland DHB confirmed once again yesterday that there were no new Covid-19 cases in Northland. Twelve people with currently active symptoms remained in self-isolation, and 15 had recovered.

The number of cases country-wide rose by five on Friday, taking the total to 1456.

Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay also reported the death of a man in his 60s from the Christchurch Rosewood Rest Home, taking the death toll within that cluster to 10. Eight people remained in hospital, one of them receiving ICU care.

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

Meanwhile Dr McElnay said district health boards had been following Ministry of Health advice to reach out to rural areas. "Quite a number" of communities had been reached out to, particularly in Northland, and feedback was being received from those programmes.

None of the additional community tests had identified new cases.

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

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

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

At the same time, the chronic shortage of healthcare professionals in rural communities remained, and had 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," he said.

"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."