At the start of this month, traces of Covid-19 were found in the town's wastewater. Photo /NZ Herald
As its more than three weeks since Covid was found in Stratford's wastewater, I thought it timely to look back and reflect on the pandemic issues that hit us in November.
Firstly though, a recap of the key dates and events:
Monday, November 1 – a routine sample was taken
from Stratford's wastewater system;
Thursday, November 4 - the sample reveals a strong positive test result confirming the presence of Covid;
Friday, November 5 - pop up testing clinics set up, vaccination numbers surge, search for the source begins, media interest sky rockets;
Monday, November 8 - health authorities follow up on a tip off about a Stratford family being unwell;
Thursday, November 11 - Covid tests conducted on six family group members confirms all six are positive, one person is hospitalised, media interest sky rockets again, five people are identified as close contacts and some are symptomatic, locations of interest announced;
Friday, November 12 onwards - the family are monitored and supported at home while self-isolating, community testing continues, vaccination numbers continue to surge.
Monday, November 22 - three weeks after the first wastewater sample was taken, the positive cases have all moved past the infectious stage and are recovering well. No additional cases have been located in the Stratford community.
When the Covid discovery was first announced in early November, I can recall the sudden sense of inevitably and urgency that filled my mind and I am sure most other people in the community. It was the reality check that many had anticipated and the reality that Covid was now present in our community.
It was also the start of a search that focused on identifying the source of the Covid virus and implementing measures to manage the situation and to contain the potential spread across the community.
Seven days later the source was identified and confirmed as a family group of six people, who because they were unwell, had largely and thankfully stayed at home, effectively self-isolating themselves.
For many, myself included, the seven-day period when we did not know the source of Covid was the worst time in this whole event. The worry of not knowing who, how many, friends or family, local or visitors (remember the garden festival was in full swing) all contributed to a great deal of angst and uncertainty.
I admit finding and confirming active cases had a feeling of inevitability about it and came with little surprise, but finding six cases in one hit was a shock. In a town of only 6000 people this number equated to a city the size of Auckland finding 1500 cases in one hit. It was a real worry.
So it was a huge sense of relief to know that the source of Covid had been located. This enabled the management response to focus entirely on containment and avoiding further spread.
The response needed people in the community who were unwell or symptomatic to get tested immediately and they did, in droves, right across the region. While others cued up at vaccination clinics and boosted the collective vaccination percentages substantially.
It is important to remember that the response management of this outbreak is a multi-agency approach. Key players are the Ministry of Health, the Taranaki District Health Board, Taranaki
Civil Defence, Māori health providers from Ngāruahine and Ngāti Ruanui as well as the Stratford District Council. Each contributed in a really meaningful but different way, going about their respective roles and with a common purpose of containing the outbreak.
I wholeheartedly thank all the individual people who committed themselves to a positive outcome of zero Covid in this community and for the moment at least, this has been achieved.
So, where to now. It is important for people's mental health and financial wellbeing to get back to the new normal, trying to get out and about, as well as trying to support local businesses. The vaccination rates are around 89 per cent first dose and 78 per cent second dose for the region so we are nearly at the milestone target of 90 per cent that will help keep us all safe.
Further widespread outbreaks across the North Island tell us we are going to be living with Covid for a long time into the future, the issue now is how do we take up and answer that challenge.