The Southern District Health Board (SDHB) says the Southern district has not reached a point in the Omicron outbreak where the community is safe from widespread community transmission.

The SDHB said, while the whole country will move to alert level orange in the Covid-19 traffic light system at 11.59pm today (April 13), that decision was made because of “what is happening nationally”.

“Cases continue to rise in parts of Southern, especially in Central Otago, where we are now seeing our steepest rise in cases, and where many people will be heading for a break this holiday weekend,” SDHB Covid-19 response lead Dr Hywel Lloyd said.

“We all love to enjoy what Central and Queenstown has to offer, but our health system is stretched because of Covid-19 related staff absences in Central Otago.

“We are also seeing a continuing rise in infections in our 65+ population and in those in the 40–50-year-old age group.”  

Hywel said recent wastewater testing throughout the Southern district has shown there are highly likely to be many more cases than are currently being reported, and “the self-reporting model has resulted in significant underreporting across the district”.   

“It is now up to us, as a community, to make decisions that protect our loved ones and the vulnerable members of our society. The easiest and best way to do this is to make the decision to continue to wear a mask, just like we have been under the red traffic light settings,” Hywel said.

“Wearing a mask, wearing it properly, and practicing physical distancing, as well as being fully vaccinated and boosted, is the best defence we all have against catching Covid-19 and stopping the spread of it to our loved ones,” he said. 

The SDHB and members of the Southern Health system urge people in the Southern community to continue to wear a mask when in public, especially when indoors. 

“By continuing to wear a mask when in public, and wear it correctly, practise good hand hygiene, and stay home when you’re sick, we can all help slow the spread of Covid-19 and protect the people we care about,” Hywel said.

There are 144 new cases of Covid-19 in Queenstown Lakes, bringing the active total in the district to 986.

The SDHB does not provide a breakdown of cases within Queenstown Lakes so the Wānaka App cannot provide Wānaka-specific figures.

Across the Southern District there are 1,148 new cases and an active total of 7,497 cases.

There are 93 new cases in Central Otago; 46 in Clutha; 418 in Dunedin; 48 in Gore; 270 in Invercargill; 96 in Southland; and 32 in Waitaki. 

Thirty-two people are in hospital with Covid-19 in Southern: 22 in Dunedin, nine in Southland and one in Queenstown Lakes.

One of the cases in Dunedin Hospital is in the ICU.

IMAGE: Supplied