Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Testing sites under pressure as case numbers surge

NZ Herald

15 Feb, 2022 04:00 PM5 mins to read

February 15 2022 Covid-19 testing centres across Auckland are under pressure as Omicron continues to spread across the country.

NOW PLAYING • Focus Live: Covid testing stations in Auckland under pressure

Focus Live: Covid testing stations in Auckland under pressure

Auckland's community testing centres are under pressure as thousands of people show up to get swabbed at rates similar to the height of the Delta outbreak.

Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) chief clinical officer Andrew Old said 70 per cent of people who went through Auckland's testing sites over a 24-hour period to Tuesday weren't symptomatic and didn't need a test.

That has sparked pleas for people to only get tested if they're symptomatic or identified as a close contact, to free up strained resources.

The city's testing network was able to manage current demand – but if levels increased beyond this point, it would start to struggle.

"If demand increases, turnaround times on results would take longer; currently people can expect their results in two days."

On Monday, around 20,000 swabs were processed from across 17 sites in Auckland, which meant around 14,000 of these were carried out on people without symptoms.

There were 744 Covid-19 community cases reported yesterday (including 535 in Auckland), a dip from the record 981 seen on Monday. An increase in positive case rates had also affected lab testing capacity.

Old said yesterday 3.5 per cent of all tests processed over the last couple of days returned positive results, up a percentage from last week.

Testing would now be based on priority needs as the centres grappled with the high demand.

The NRHCC said people only needed to be tested if they felt unwell or had symptoms, were a close contact of a Covid-19 case; had received a positive rapid antigen test (RAT); were required to have a test under a mandatory testing order; worked directly with Covid-19 patients; were attending a hospital procedure or appointment and had been asked to get tested; or been told to get a test by a health official.

The Ministry of Health said it was encouraging to see a high level of testing this week and there was good testing capacity throughout the country. But unnecessary testing could delay results for people who urgently needed them.

New Zealand has woken this morning to phase 2 of the Omicron response plan which includes changes to the self-isolation period for cases and contacts.

For cases, self-isolation has been shortened from 14 days to 10 days, and for contacts from 10 days to seven. The period of self-isolation also applied to household members.

Phase 2 also sees the start of the "close contact exemption scheme". Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it ensured New Zealand's critical workforce could keep going over the next few months by allowing asymptomatic, vaccinated close contacts to go to work instead of isolating if they returned a daily negative RAT.

National's Chris Bishop claimed Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins had admitted the reason why "critical" businesses were included in the scheme, rather than all businesses, was due to a limited supply of RATs in the country.

Bishop called it "a stunning admission".

"The Government ordered its own rapid tests too late and now businesses are under pressure because the Government doesn't have enough tests to make sure the scheme can apply to all."

Ardern said at Monday's press conference that there were 7.2 million RATs in the country and more would arrive over the next week.

Meanwhile, new self-isolation rules for eligible people coming into the country were announced yesterday. They come into force on February 28 - in line with "step 1" of the reopening of the border that applied to Kiwis and other current eligible travellers from Australia.

To swap a stay in MIQ for self-isolation, travellers had to be fully vaccinated and return a negative test before they flew. They would then spend seven days in self-isolation, taking two rapid antigen tests.

Covid-19 community testing sites are facing high demand. Photo / Michael Craig

Nineteen cases were detected at the border yesterday – including three deemed historical – while 40 people were in hospital with Covid-19.

None were in intensive care and the average age of those hospitalised with the virus was 59.

As for community cases, Auckland remains the centre of outbreak – with 535 of yesterday's reported 744 cases. The remaining cases were across Northland (43), Waikato (69), Bay of Plenty (8), Lakes (10), Hawke's Bay (1), MidCentral (6), Taranaki (2), Tairāwhiti (7), Wairarapa (1), Capital and Coast (5), Hutt Valley (1), Nelson Marlborough (9), Canterbury (9) and the Southern region (30).

More than 47,000 boosters were administered on Monday – more than double the amount given on Sunday – taking the total given so far to almost two million doses.

Now, 61 per cent of those eligible for their booster dose have received it.

Ninety-six per cent of the eligible population aged 12 and over have had their first dose of vaccine while 95 per cent have received their second dose.