Omicron Has Replaced Delta As The Dominant Variant Of COVID-19 In Northland

Omicron has replaced Delta as the dominant variant of COVID-19 in Northland.

"There were twenty-one new cases notified to the Public Health Unit in the past 24 hours – the highest number of cases notified in a day for Northland," noted Medical Officer of Health, Dr Bart Willems, Ngā Tai Ora - Public Health Northland.

"At the moment, cases are increasing rapidly in the Kerikeri area, and it is likely that eventually, we will see similar trends in other areas of Northland. However, anyone can help to slow it down."

A slower and more controlled outbreak will help us protect Māori and our most vulnerable by allowing time for more vaccinations and supporting the healthcare system to care for everyone who needs it safely.

"In an extremely fast and uncontrolled outbreak, Northland is more vulnerable to the risk of health services and critical services being unable to keep up with demands."

For most, the severity of COVID disease is likely to be milder with Omicron infection, but many will still have severe disease needing hospital care.

"Because of the infectiousness and speed of spread of Omicron, the numbers of people with severe disease at any one time could still pose a risk to the health system and critical services.

"We'd like to make sure that everyone who needs hospital care will be able to access it."

The number of people who will need to isolate and stay at home at a single time could also mean that there are fewer people available to keep critical services operational.

Unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated people are most at risk and during this outbreak it’s likely that about 75 percent of our unvaccinated population (over 20,000 people) will get Omicron.

"Vaccination remains our most effective weapon against the virus. However, now that Omicron is in our community, we expect case numbers to grow rapidly and put our Northland health system other critical services like food, water and energy providers under considerable pressure."

How to slow down the spread of Omicron:

Prevent:

• Get vaccinated and get boosted. It’s not too late.
• Strongly consider postponing or not attending larger gatherings, especially those happening indoors. Meet in smaller groups and meet outside. This is especially relevant for residents in the Kerikeri area given the situation there.
• Wear the correct mask whenever it is indicated
• Keep your distance from others as much as possible.

Test:

• If you have COVID symptoms isolate, call Healthline on 0800 358 5453, get a test and stay at home until you get a negative test result.

Protect others:

• Stay at home according to the Ministry of Health advice if you are a COVID case or a contact.

Northland COVID-19 Update - Friday 4 February 2022

• There were twenty one new cases notified to the Public Health Unit in the past 24 hours – the highest number of cases notified in a day for Northland.
• Twelve cases are in Kerikeri, five in Hokianga, and four in Whangārei.
• There has been 184 COVID-19 cases since 22 October, 2021 and 52 cases since 30 January 2022.
• There are 63 active cases in Northland, 122 cases have now recovered and have been released from isolation.
• Locations of Interest (LOI) are added regularly - please check the Ministry of Health website for an updated list of LOI.
• There are no COVID-19 cases currently in Northland hospitals.

Wastewater

• There has been a positive wastewater result in Whatuwhiwhi on 31 January. COVID-19 testing is available in Kaitaia – 34 minutes from Whatuwhiwhi

https://www.northlanddhb.org.nz/home/covid-19/getting-tested/northland-testing-locations/

• There has been a positive wastewater result in Mangawhai on 1 February. Coast to Coast Healthcare provide routine drive through COVID-19 testing 7 days at 77 Morrison Drive Warkworth and Monday to Friday at 72 School Road Wellsford.
  https://www.healthpoint.co.nz/gps-accident-urgent-medical-care/gp/coast-to-coast-health-care/

Vaccination Overview

• 89% of the Northland eligible population, 85% of Māori and 98% of Pacific people have received at least one dose.
• 87% of the Northland eligible population, 80% of Māori and 95% of Pacific people are fully vaccinated.
• At midnight last night we had 334 1st doses to reach the 90% first dose target.

Booster

• 1,678 booster doses were administered yesterday, of which 393 (23%) were among Māori.
• 51,695 booster doses were administered since 29 November 2021, of which 8,975 (17%) were among Māori.

5-11-year-olds

• 19,480 tamariki live in Tai Tokerau, of whom 10,478 tamariki (54%) are of Māori ethnicity.
• 20% of tamariki (across all ethnicities) have received their first dose, and 12% of the Māori tamariki have received their first dose to date.

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