The South has recorded its first Covid-19 admissions in rural hospitals.
Yesterday, as well as 14 patients who had Covid-19 being cared for in Dunedin Hospital and four in Southland Hospital in Invercargill, Dunstan Hospital in Clyde (two) and Waitaki Hospital in Oamaru (one) recorded their first Covid-19 admissions.
One person with the virus was convalescing in Lakes Hospital in Queenstown.
Five of the Dunedin patients had been admitted to hospital because they had Covid-19, including one in the children’s ward and a mother in the maternity ward.
The other nine patients were in hospital for other reasons and had tested positive.
No Covid-19 patients were in intensive care.
Meanwhile, Dr Lloyd, who is in charge of the SDHB’s Covid-19 planning, said he hoped that separate outbreaks in Dunedin hospital wards might have been largely contained.
Yesterday, it was revealed that a person admitted to Ward 10A at Wakari Hospital late last week had later tested positive to Covid-19 and that, unrelated, there had also been several cases detected in Ward 4C, the gynaecological service inpatient ward at Dunedin Hospital.
"The fourth floor is largely stable, we haven’t had any more cases, which is great," Dr Lloyd said.
"We have one more symptomatic patient in 10A [a ward for people with severe intellectual disabilities] and we are waiting for the results to come back from that individual but it is looking like it is probably another case."
The original case in 4C had initially been transferred to a rural hospital but had since been readmitted to Dunedin, Dr Lloyd said.
The SDHB shut down the entire fourth floor of Dunedin Hospital to visitors yesterday, but if no more cases were discovered it would reconsider reopening it tomorrow.
"We have tested 18 patients and are still awaiting three results to come back and if the three remaining tests come back negative then we will reopen that ward for admissions again, but we will be keeping a close eye on things".
None of the staff on the ward reported sick yesterday, Dr Lloyd said.
"One of them tested positive on Saturday so of course they didn’t come to work."
Yesterday the Ministry of Health reported 14,463 new community cases of Covid-19, and that 1000 people nationwide were in hospital with the disease.
In the South, 950 new cases were reported, a sizeable hike from Sunday’s 840, on a day when reported case numbers have usually been lower due to the weekend.
Health planners believe the peak of the southern pandemic could happen this week, and have predicted the region might report about 1500 cases a day.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday that the Cabinet had taken a range of decisions about vaccination mandates and vaccine passports, but she would not announce them until tomorrow.
Ms Ardern defended the delay, saying orders needed to be drafted and the plans checked for any possible unintended side-effects.
She said the planned changes would not take effect immediately.
