There are again more than 11,000 Covid cases in the community today – but the actual number could be double, health officials say.
11,382 new Covid cases and 23 virus-related deaths were reported today.
One of the deaths reported today was a child aged 10 and under.
The figures come as Covid-19 Minister Ayesha Verrall, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and the new Director of Health NZ Margie Apa brief reporters on the next phase of the government’s Covid response.
Verrall said NZ would stick with the orange traffic light setting. The government had weighed in on whether switching to red would make a significant difference, but collecting limits would provide only “an incremental benefit”.
Wearing a mask, getting a boost, and staying home when you’re sick were more effective tactics than going back to the red setting, she said.
Red was not superfluous, however: “This is a virus that is constantly changing, so we do need a flexible response system.
“We need to be able to continue to have a response that we can bend.”
However, she said at the time she believed the country could get through with more emphasis on the measures at orange.
“This virus can mutate and we need the ability to change our response.”
Verrall said the most effective measures for the current outbreak were masks, boosters, broadening the scope of antivirals and encouraging people to test.
When asked what it would take to go red, Verrall said there had been concerns about super-spreader events in the past — for which collecting limits was helpful.
However, right now people were catching Covid in their homes and workplaces, so that was the focus.
Free masks and RATS will be made available
Free masks and rapid antigen testing (RATS) would be offered at assembly sites, Verrall said.
People would no longer have to meet the criteria of having Covid symptoms or being a household contact or a critical worker.
However, she said people still need to book for RAT collection, just to make sure there was stock.
The government is also making 10 million child-sized masks available to students aged 4-7 in New Zealand and up to 30,000 masks per week for all other students and school staff.
Verrall said if schools included the support of free masks in the next term it would make a difference: “Please use it.”
There would also be a new campaign to encourage booster uptake.
“For those who contract Covid-19, we want antivirals to be used more widely.”
An estimated 400,000 people are eligible for antiviral drugs.
These helped stop people who needed hospital care. She said many approached them through GPs. She encouraged GPs to identify the people in their care who were most at risk, and to be willing to prescribe them if that person tested positive.
Pharmac was to announce new eligibility criteria for the antiviral drugs today — anyone over the age of 57 would be eligible, Verrall said.
Due to the expanded criteria, the percentage of people who are eligible for the antivirals will increase from 2 percent to 10 percent.
Eligible people also received a text message so they knew to go for the antivirals if they weren’t feeling well.
“These measures are the most effective measures we have,” Verrall said.
“They’re simple, but if we do them all, we can reduce the burden on the health system.”
One of the antiviral drugs, Paxlovid, reduces the chance of a person at risk going to the hospital by nearly 90 percent, Verrall said.
More than half of the people newly hospitalized yesterday were 70 years of age or older, indicating use of the antivirals.
Verrall said friends in the health system had told her about the struggle to meet demand — she said pressure carries clinical risks and was difficult for those working in the industry.
When asked why it took so long to get to this point, Verrall said many of the steps had already been taken, but needed more emphasis. upwards.
Cases can peak at 21,000 a day: Bloomfield
Bloomfield said with more open borders and more cases being detected at our border, the number of cases has been increasing week by week.
The number of cases was expected to peak at 21,000 cases per day – and the number of hospitalizations would peak at over 1,000.
Bloomfield said measures could be used to try and bring those numbers down to below 1,000. “We anticipated Omicron’s second wave, we planned it. The public health measures and the actions of all of us will make the difference here.”
Wearing a surgical or N95 mask correctly can reduce the risk of infection by about half.
He urged those who did not wear masks because they were uncomfortable with health workers, who had to wear them day in and day out.
People still have to test and follow the isolation rules. People should also get their flu and Covid-19 booster vaccinations.
The six-month interval for boosters was closely monitored.
“My plea to you, to everyone in New Zealand, is to please help a little.”
The BA.5 variant was better at evading immunity, Bloomfield said.
“That’s important for people who have been infected before.”
According to the latest data, the BA.2 subvariant of Omicron accounted for 41 percent of the cases, BA.4 for 11 percent and BA.5 for 47 percent. BA.5 is expected to become the dominant variant.
Only 2-3 percent of cases were now those who had been re-infected, but he expected this to increase.
He said he expected only about half the number of actual cases to be discovered.
The seven-day moving average for community affairs is now 9826.
Healthcare workers prioritize emergency care
Health NZ chief executive Margie Apa said they are closely monitoring the impact on the health system.
The workforce faced high demand in hospitals and primary care.
The health sector also struggled with staff shortages due to illness among the staff, which meant that they had to wait longer than was desirable.
Apa said they were working regionally to prioritize urgent care while also trying to keep non-emergency surgeries and procedures going. She said it wasn’t an ideal situation, but “we ask for some patience from our communities.”
Urban and metro hospitals were particularly hard hit by the sick staff. Health NZ was working on ways to offer more virtual or telephone health services.
There were also efforts to allow for more out-of-hours help.
Apa said some hospitals had discovered this week that more than 200 people called in sick in one day.