There are 31 new cases of COVID-19 in Tairāwhiti. This brings our total active cases to 126 and 28 people have recovered. One person remains in a stable condition in hospital.
“With this number of new cases, we no longer have control over the spread of the virus,” said Jim Green, Hauora Tairāwhiti CE.
The government will make an announcement today at midday about the next step in the Omicron response and a possible move to phase 3 and more use of rapid antigen tests (RATs).
“We’re managing this outbreak as well as we can, but that’s because we have high vaccination rates.
“What we are seeing now though, with the sharp increase in daily cases, is the virus starting to move freely between people in the community.
“To slow down spread so we can keep essential services going, source control is more important than ever.
“Please wear masks all the time you are out of your homes and most especially all the time at work, school or social settings.
“If you take your mask off to eat or drink, keep 2m away from other people and put it back on again as soon as you can.
“This won’t stop the virus spreading, it is beyond that now, but it will slow down on the numbers of people sick at any one time and allow us to get through this next period as the wave of infection peaks.
“We can get through this. Vaccination remains our best overall protection and it definitely reduces the severity of the illness when you get it. The best protection is if you are doubled vaxxed and boosted.
“I’ll be a lot happier when we reach 90% vaccination for our 5-11 year old age group. We’re sitting at 38% of first doses at the moment. It isn’t high enough.
Vaccination clinics at 295 Palmerston Road (9am-4:30pm) and Harry Barker drive through (4pm-6:30pm) are open daily and have vaccinators who are trained in immunising children. For more details see https://bit.ly/3o38iZP
Please only get tested if you have symptoms of the flu or you are connected to a positive case.
Where to get vaccinated: https://bit.ly/3o38iZP
Where to get tested: https://bit.ly/3Brsyd8
Have a plan: www.covid19.govt.nz/be-prepared