Venkat Raman
Auckland, March 4, 2022
Auckland health officials are cautiously optimistic in saying that Omicron case numbers may have reached a peak, although hospital admissions could continue to rise next week.
The Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) has provided an update on how Tāmaki Makaurau as a region is managing the Covid-19 Omicron outbreak.
Chief Clinical Officer Dr Andrew Old, Associate Chief Clinical Officer and clinical immunologist and physician Dr Anthony Jordan, Primary Care Co-Clinical Lead Dr Christine McIntosh said that there were 13,252 community cases in the three DHBs yesterday and that this is expected to peak in Auckland over the next eight days.
Hospitalisation low
“Based on tests, modelling and overseas experience, we may soon be turning the corner. Hospitalisation remains low –under 0.5% with over 100,000 active cases in hospital. Less than 2% of the people affected by Omicron are receiving treatment in hospitals,” they said.
Dr Old considers Auckland as ‘very fortunate’ to be experienced such as surge with a highly vaccinated population, but care services should be prioritised to those in need.
He said that current hospitalisations for Covid-related sickness had not exceeded expectations. There are staged plans for Covid wards to grow at all the hospitals in the Auckland metro region.
According to him, a majority of people in Auckland hospitals are unvaccinated or those who are not fully vaccinated. Among them are also young people.
“Many of them could have avoided hospitalisation had they been fully vacated,” he said.
“Every death is heart-breaking and we offer our condolences to the grieving familiar. It is a reminder that Omicron may not always be a mild illness to every person. Therefore, our message is that every home should have a plan including isolating people’s safety,” he said.
Dr Old said that older people should book their test collection on the website.
RATs and PCR
“Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) are not as sensitive as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test. Therefore, our advice is that people with symptoms taking multiple RATs could take a PCR test for confirmation,” he said.
Dr Jordan said that there was still a backlog in PCR testing laboratories but that is expected to be cleared over the weekend. There was good capacity in PCR testing, he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of frontline staff are away from work either because they have been afflicted by the Virus or because they are looking after their families.
College of Emergency Medicine New Zealand Faculty Chair Kate Allan is an example.
She and three other senior doctors are at home but significant shortages are experienced among the nursing staff.
Their absence is a cause for worry among the disabled people in the community.
It is understood that about 25% of New Zealanders have a disability, some with complex needs requiring caregivers every day.
Disability Connect Chair Colleen Brown said that a lack of information about support available for disabled people who are in isolation or those infected by Covid-19 is also worrying.
