New measures to reduce Covid-19 infection will reduce strain on Whanganui Hospital staff

Whanganui's chief medical officer said it was testing times at Whanganui Hospital, with increased numbers of people in their wards with Covid-19. Photo / Bevan Conley

As Whanganui Hospital deals with its highest number of Covid-19 patients among its wards, the chief medical officer hopes new measures will reduce transmission.

The measures, announced by Covid-19 minister Ayesha Verrall last Thursday, July 14, included providing free medical masks with all Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) as well as removing the eligibility criteria for receiving RAT tests.

Surgical-grade masks (N95 and P2) will be handed out to medically vulnerable people.

Pharmac announced the eligibility criteria for anti-viral drugs which protect people from developing severe symptoms of Covid-19 had been extended to be available to 10 per cent of the population.

Verrall said these measures were introduced to protect people from the virus and to reduce the number of people hospitalised with Covid-19, which will help with the strain on hospital staff and the health system.

"These measures are the most effective measures we have. They are simple, but if we all do them we can lessen the burdens on the health system," Verrall said.

Te Whatu Ora Whanganui chief medical officer Dr Patrick O'Connor said the moves to encourage mask use will reduce the amount of transmission between people.

"To have an impact on the overall picture, mask use needs to be widespread and certainly more common than we are seeing at present," he said.

As for the increased eligibility for anti-viral drugs, O'Connor said that the drugs were being targeted at people whose risk of hospitalisation was higher.

"If they can be treated early enough this may prevent some hospitalisations."

One of the medicines available, Paxlovid, reduces the likelihood of an at-risk person going to the hospital by almost 90 per cent, according to Verrall.

O'Connor said, at this point, it was not clear how many current admissions in the hospital would have benefited from the new eligibility criteria.

Some doctors across the country had criticised the Government's new measures, saying they did not go far enough to ease the strain on hospital staff.

They said re-mandating mask wearing in public spaces and the inclusion of free N95 masks with RATs would have made a bigger difference.

O'Connor said while tighter measures would reduce the levels of infection, they would also require acceptance and compliance to work as intended, which is also true of these new measures.

"We need our community to get in behind frequent RAT testing and wearing masks," he said.

Locally, Whanganui Hospital recorded 20 people in their Covid-19 wards on Monday, July, 18, the highest number of the pandemic thus far.

O'Connor said because of the increased admission staff were feeling the pressure and it was increasing workloads, but they were working through it.

"Staff are very supportive of each other and people are helping across the services as much as possible."

He said these were testing times but the focus remained on doing the best they could for the community and patients.