Waikato DHB COVID-19 Advisory

Tuesday, 31 August 2021, 11:39 pm
Press Release: Waikato District Health Board

Please find below an update from Waikato DHB on our Alert Level 4 response.

Changes since our last media advisory on Monday 31 August 2021 are provided in red.

COVID-19 Testing Centres

The availability of Community Testing Centres is based on our assessment of demand and may change on a daily basis. Locations for community testing are updated in this advisory, on our website, Healthpoint and our Facebook page as soon as they are confirmed for the next day.

Testing in Coromandel

Coromandel Family Health Clinic

80 Kapanga Road

Coromandel

Tuesday - Friday 10am - 3pm
Note: All patients must call the clinic and make an appointment in advance.

Te Korowai Hauora o Hauraki – Coromandel

225 Kapanga Road

Coromandel
Call the clinic on 07 866 8084 for more information.

The Coromandel town car park pop-up testing centre is now closed.

Testing in Hamilton

Hamilton Community Testing Centre

Founders Theatre car park

Entrance off Norton Road

8am – 4pm

Testing in Tokoroa

Tokoroa Family Health

Tokoroa Hospital
8.30am - 5pm
Call the clinic on 07 886 5431 to make a booking in advance.

Tokoroa Medical Centre

35-75 Maraetai Rd, Tokoroa
8.30am - 5pm
Call the clinic on 07 886 8777 to make a booking in advance.

Other general practices testing for COVID-19 in the Waikato

Other general practices are testing patients. Go to Healthpoint for a full list of GPs offering COVID-19 testing or call your GP to check.

The following general practices will test people who do not have a regular doctor or are not enrolled at a general practice.

· Anglesea Urgent Care Hamilton (outside of Founders hours)

· Coromandel Family Health

· Glenview Medical Centre, Hamilton

· Hamilton Lake Clinic

· Health Te Aroha

· Matamata Medical Centre

· Mercury Bay Medical Centre

· Paeroa Medical Centre

· Raglan Medical Centre

· Te Kauwhata Medical Centre

· Te Kohao Health, Hamilton

· Te Korowai O Hauora Coromandel

· Te Korowai O Hauora Thames

· Te Korowai O Hauora Whitianga

· Te Kuiti Medical Centre

· Thames Medical Centre

· Tokoroa Family Health

· Tokoroa Medical Centre

· Tui Medical Te Rapa, Hamilton

· Victoria Clinic & Urgent Care, Hamilton

· Waihi Family Doctors

· Waihi Health Centre

· Whangamata Medical Centre

COVID-19 tests are free. Please ring first to make an appointment.

Update on COVID-19 testing in the Waikato DHB region

On Monday 30 August 159 COVID-19 tests were taken at the Founders testing centre in Hamilton.

Across the broader Waikato DHB region, 389 tests were processed on Monday 30 August by the Waikato DHB lab.

If you have cold or flu-like symptoms and are concerned about your risk of COVID-19, please ring Healthline (0800 358 5453). They will tell you if you need to be tested and what to do next.

• It is free to get a COVID-19 test
• GPs are able to provide assessment and testing – please phone your practice first
• Please do not turn up to your GP without an appointment
• After hours, you can be seen at an urgent care clinic
• We recommend you take your NHI number with you, which can speed up the timeframe to receive your test results.

Update on COVID-19 vaccinations in the Waikato DHB region

On Monday 30 August 6,850 vaccinations were delivered across the Waikato.

As of 9am on 31 August 2021, 275,875 vaccinations have been delivered to Waikato residents. This is significant, and as we head closer to a major milestone of 300,000 vaccinations, we must acknowledge the efforts of all staff at our community vaccination centres, and our Māori, Iwi, primary and community health care partners.

From tomorrow, everyone over 12 years old can now book their vaccination appointments at bookmyvaccine.nz or by calling 0800 28 29 26.

A reminder that all COVID-19 vaccinations centres in the Waikato are operating under Alert Level 4 conditions today, and at Alert Level 3 conditions tomorrow. You must wear a face covering and social distancing will be in place.

We are vaccinating by appointment only. We ask everyone to double check their appointment notifications for full details to ensure they turn up at the correct vaccination centre, on time.

Changes to Waikato DHB services

Waikato will move to Alert Level 3 at midnight this evening. Alert Level 3 protocols will remain in place for Waikato DHB’s hospitals and services until further notice, noting specifically that there is no change to the visitor policy for Waikato Hospital and rural Hospitals.

For public interest, changes to our Waikato DHB services at Alert Level 3 are provided below.

· Like Alert Level 4, at Alert Level 3 it is still necessary for us to defer all non-urgent outpatient appointments and elective procedures until further notice. We are contacting all affected individuals directly. Plans will be made to rebook all affected individuals when it is safe to do so. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the clinics to discuss.

· Renal patients - dialysis appointments will continue to go ahead for renal patients. Please attend your dialysis appointment as you normally would, and wear a face covering or mask.

· Cancer patients - Those patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation therapy will continue to do so as planned at Alert Level 3. Please come to your scheduled appointments, and wear a face covering or mask.

· Our Emergency Department remains open. However, please do ensure this is used for emergencies only. Patients can have one support person with them in the Emergency Department at Alert Level 3. Exceptions are outlined below.

· Maternity patients - All of our maternity services are open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. If you need urgent maternity care in Women’s Assessment Unit or Delivery Suite or you have an appointment at Antenatal Clinic please attend. Monitoring and caring for the health of you and your baby is important at this time. We have put in place processes to keep you safe during Alert Level 3. More information is available on our website.

· Urgent (life-threatening) Acute surgery - All urgent/acute and emergency surgeries and procedures will continue.

· Meals on Wheels - Meals on Wheels will continue to be distributed, however there may be some delays due to driver availability. Meal delivery will be ‘contactless’ with drivers wearing PPE and following strict hand hygiene protocols.

· GP Appointments - If you have an appointment during Alert Level 3, please call your General Practice team for advice on whether your consultation can be done over the phone, by video or in person. All General Practices are open.

· Pharmacy - Community Pharmacies are essential health services and will be open for prescriptions and over the counter medications. Please do not visit if you are sick. Always wear a mask and practice physical distancing.

· Radiology - We continue to provide radiology services to clinically urgent and time sensitive patients. All other radiology appointments at Waikato DHB facilities - other than those needing acute care - have been postponed and will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

· Hospital cafes - As we continue the safe care and protection of our staff and our Waikato community under COVID-19 Alert Level 3, we wish to advise that Waikato DHB hospital cafés will not be open to members of the public who are visiting or supporting inpatient whānau, or attending outpatient appointments. We recommend visitors, support people and outpatients bring their own refreshments with them when they visit our hospitals. For hospital patients, three meals are provided daily and we are happy to provide further refreshments on request.

· Anyone needing immediate or urgent help should seek medical care by calling 111 for an ambulance or going to their nearest hospital emergency department.

· Thank you for your understanding and cooperation at this time. As always, our priority is the safety and care of our patients, whānau and staff.

Visitors to our hospitals at Alert Levels 3 and 4

· To keep patients, whānau and staff safe, members of the public will be unable to visit patients in our hospitals, clinics, or other community facilities. We know how important the support of whānau and friends is to our patients, so this was a difficult decision to make.

· Only support people or caregivers are able to visit inpatients.

• One support person for patients presenting to the Emergency Department
• One caregiver for child health services
• One support person for birthing facilities
• No children are permitted on the wards

In some cases, exceptions to this policy will be made on essential and compassionate grounds– for example, a parent or guardian who is supporting a child.

• Any exceptions will be at the discretion of the charge nurse manager and will require prior agreement. (by phoning the ward)
• The visitor will undergo screening before they enter to ensure they are well, have clean hands, and are using appropriate personal protective equipment

· We encourage patients and families to use technology where available to maintain contact in these difficult times.

Places of interest

Everybody should keep an eye on locations of interest on the Ministry of Health website which is constantly updated. Please pay particular attention to the window of time when the confirmed cases visited a location.

© Scoop Media

Waikato District Health Board

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