The Ministry of Health reported four Covid-19 cases in Hawke’s Bay, today - two probable and two confirmed. This takes the total for the region to 33.

Probable cases, are cases that are a close contact of a previously confirmed case that meets the clinical criteria of having COVID-19.

Of today’s confirmed cases one is a female in her 60s who has recently returned from overseas directly into isolation, and there is no other contact tracing required.

One confirmed (male in his 30s) case and one probable (female in her 20s) case have attended large gatherings in other areas of New Zealand and public health is actively investigating if these cases are related to clusters elsewhere in the country. If there is any wider risk to the community it will be communicated and anyone that may be a close contact will be contacted by public health.

The other probable case (male in his 60s) is a household contact of a confirmed case and there is no further contact tracing required.

All of today’s cases are recovering well and no-one has required hospital treatment.

Today, the district health board releases a table broken down into territorial authority boundaries of where confirmed COVID-19 cases are located. (This includes probable numbers). This table also shows the recovered cases by locality.

Medical Officer of Health Rachel Eyre said the district health board had provided transparent information from the outset of the pandemic, where there was a wider risk to the public from a confirmed case. In particular, the district health board had identified specific outbreaks of any confirmed groups such as the Ruby Princess and the Gladys Mary Care Home.

“Releasing this table, as the numbers have grown, means there is less likelihood of people being identified. The majority of Hawke’s Bay cases are returned overseas travelers and all have done the right thing by self-isolating upon their return. The numbers won’t be broken down any further to protect the identities of people with COVID-19.

“We want to find anyone who has COVID-19, that is our priority. The changed Ministry of Health definition for testing, allows for more tests to be completed removing the requirement for having been overseas or in contact with a confirmed case.

Dr Eyre said she strongly encouraged people who developed or had a cold or flu-like illness and one of the following: a cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, a runny nose or loss of smell, regardless of whether or not they have a temperature, to call their GP or Healthline to be referred to one of our community testing stations.

“We have the testing capacity, and New Zealand’s laboratories have the capacity to process the tests, so please take advantage of this.”

Today’s Ministry of Health national case updates can be found here: https://covid19.govt.nz/government-actions/covid-19-alert-level/

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