Covid-19 cases in the Southern region have increased considerably in the past two weeks alongside the added burden of influenza infection and winter illnesses, Te Whatu Ora Southern says.

Case numbers in Southern are about the same as they were in March and wastewater testing is showing that potentially more than half of people with Covid-19 in Southern are not reporting their infection, medical officer of health Dr Susan Jack said. 

“We are seeing an increase of Covid-19 cases especially amongst our older people, but we expect to see an increase in cases amongst younger age groups when children return to school after the school holidays.”

Primary care continues to be under significant pressure from high demand and large numbers of staff off sick, while aged residential care facilities continue to have high numbers of staff and residents infected with Covid-19.   

“Our rising case numbers suggests New Zealand is at the beginning of a second Covid-19 wave and modelling suggests that hospital admissions could be higher than the first, with the more transmissible BA.5 variant quickly becoming the dominant strain in the community,” Southern quality and clinical governance executive director Dr Hywel Lloyd said. 

He said the biggest jump in cases in Southern is amongst those aged 45 and over. 

There were 895 new cases in Southern in the past 24 hours: Central Otago had 424; Clutha 193; Dunedin 2,757; Gore 119; Invercargill 577; Queenstown Lakes 816; Southland 335; and Waitaki 308.

High case numbers have led to an increase in hospital occupancy. Currently the average age of people in hospital across the Southern district is 74-years-old.  

There are 49 people with Covid-19 in hospital in the Southern region: Twenty-one in Dunedin, 23 in Southland, one in Gore, two in Waitaki, and two in Dunstan.

The Ministry of Health yesterday (Friday July 15) reported 16 deaths from Covid-19 in the past 11 days; one of which was from Southern. 

“To ease pressure on the health system and health workers, additional measures are being rolled out to help tackle the second Covid-19 wave and record levels of flu infection,” Hywel said. 

“This includes increasing access to antiviral medication for those most likely to end up in hospital, making free masks and RATs [rapid antigen tests] more widely available, and doing another push to lift uptake of flu and Covid-19 vaccines including the second booster.”  

Southern interim district director Hamish Brown said health staff are doing “an incredible job under difficult circumstances”. 

“The easiest way the people of Southern can support our healthcare workers is to wear a mask when out in public. If you don’t have access to a mask, you can now get them for free when you order RATs.  

“People are getting re-infected so please, even if you have already had Covid-19, wear a mask when you are out in our communities. Something as simple as wearing a mask could protect you and your loved ones from serious illness.”  

Dr Susan Jack asked people to report their positive RATs so they can quickly be linked in with the appropriate care and support. 

“Reporting your result also gives healthcare teams the information we need to plan and distribute resources where they are needed the most.”  

Te Whatu Ora Southern has resumed twice weekly updates given the increase in Covid-19 cases and the prevalence of influenza and other seasonal illness.