Covid-19 Delta outbreak: Case numbers are down, jab numbers up, but no time for complacency in Taranaki

The region's main vaccination centres are open seven days for walk-in and booked appointments. Photo / Bevan Conley

Covid-19 returned to Taranaki late last week, with five people in New Plymouth returning positive Covid-19 tests over Thursday and Friday.

By the weekend, however, Taranaki officially had only one Covid-19 case in the community, after the other four people returned home to the Waikato and are now being counted in Waikato district numbers rather than Taranaki.

The remaining case was isolating at home in New Plymouth and receiving appropriate care and support, said Taranaki District Health Board.

TDHB Covid response manager Gillian Campbell says testing demand surged on Friday after notification of the cases of Covid-19 in the community.

"Over 900 tests were completed throughout the region on Friday. It was great to see people responding so positively and getting a test to be sure. Our testing centres, general practice and the pop-up clinics all had high volumes of people accessing their services thanks to extended hours."

Gillian says the fact there is now only one case in the region doesn't mean people can be complacent.

"We vaccinated over 1000 people on Friday, a third of those were first doses, which tells us some people may have been waiting to see if Covid-19 would come back into the region."

Taranaki is now sitting at 91 per cent first-dose vaccination and 85 per cent second dose. As of Sunday, Stratford district was at 82.5 per cent fully vaccinated, of the eligible population, New Plymouth is ahead of Stratford with 85.9 per cent fully vaccinated and South Taranaki district is topping the chart for the region with 86.8 per cent fully vaccinated

"There's no time like the present to ensure you and your whānau are ready and well protected against Covid-19. We expect further cases in our region with the country having more freedoms to move around so please don't delay getting your vaccinations," says Gillian.