WARWICK SMITH/Things
There are 31 people with Covid-19 as patients at Palmerston North Hospital.
Te Whatu Ora MidCentral has registered the deadliest week of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Covid-19 senior officer in charge Deborah Davis expressed condolences to the friends and family of 12 people who have died in the past seven days, the highest number of district deaths in a week.
“This has been a particularly difficult week for our community,” she said.
There were 2,762 new cases reported in the past seven days, an increase of 28.5% from the previous week.
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* Covid-19: 8454 new cases of intercourse, 24 reported deaths, including children under 10 years old
* Covid-19: 8242 new community cases, 14 reported deaths
* Covid-19: 9047 new community cases, 13 deaths reported
There were 31 cases at Palmerston North Hospital, none in intensive care, and the Department of Health reported 247 new cases on Monday.
“We are currently in an increasing outbreak and each of us must do our part to stop the spread,” Davies said.
“We had such success last year… and we have to do it again.”
Davies said people should wear masks, wash their hands and stay home if they are not feeling well.
Reinfection rates rose, with 88 people who had already had Covid-19 reporting new positive tests in the past week.
“You can catch Covid-19 more than once, so please do what you can to protect yourself and others.”
In the coming weeks, some pharmacies across the district could be dispensing antiviral drugs to vulnerable people without a doctor’s prescription. More information was awaited.
Everyone had access to free RAT tests by requesting them through the COVID-19 website symptomatic, a household contact or not.
All results must be reported through https://bit.ly/MyCovidRecord
Masks were also free at test pick-up locations.