COVID-19 Level 3 Public Advisory

Monday, 11 October 2021, 2:31 pm
Press Release: Waikato District Health Board

Latest update on COVID-19 testing and vaccinations

Today there are no new community cases of COVID-19 in the Waikato. The region has a total of 31 cases, which are all linked.

Location of COVID-19 cases

New locations of interest in Hamilton and Raglan have been added to the Ministry of Health website: https://www.health.govt.nz/locationsofinterest

In the week to Sunday 10 October, 51,947 vaccinations were delivered in the Waikato. This is 25,000 more than planned and includes 10,397 vaccinations delivered on Thursday 7 October, the biggest day for the Waikato since the vaccination programme began in February.

The bulk of Thursday’s vaccinations (62%) were delivered by Waikato DHB’s primary care partners, demonstrating the degree of community collaboration within the Waikato COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Pop-up testing and vaccinations continue to operate in Raglan today with testing at the Raglan rugby grounds car park and vaccinations at Raglan Area School. From Tuesday, testing will move to the school and vaccinations will be held at the rugby club, where there is capacity to vaccinate in larger numbers.

Pop-up testing continues in Hamilton at Claudelands Event Centre and Te Kōhao Health on Wairere Drive, alongside the ongoing community testing centre at Founders Theatre.

Testing sites in Te Rapa Hamilton, Kawhia, Karapiro, Tokoroa and Huntly are no longer operating as demand has reduced and can be met through general practices.

Total tests taken across the Waikato on Sunday 10 October: 2174

People can also get tested on appointment at GP practices across the region, including designated GP practices that take enrolled and non-enrolled patients. See Healthpoint for a full list of options.

It is important that our testing facilities are available for those priority individuals who meet the criteria for seeking a test at this time. This allows us to rapidly investigate whether there has been any community spread.

Anyone who has cold or flu-like symptoms, is following guidance relating to a location of interest or has been directed by Healthline or a GP should seek a test immediately.

Otherwise, people should call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 or their GP for guidance before seeking a test.

It is free to get a COVID-19 test, wherever you go.

COVID-19 testing centres

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

Raglan

Raglan rugby grounds car park

Cross Street

Monday - 10am - 1pm

Testing moves to Raglan Area School from Tuesday 12 October. Hours will be Tuesday to Friday 10am - 1pm

Hamilton

Founders Theatre car park

Entrance off Norton Road

8am - 4.30pm

Claudelands Event Centre

Gate 3, Brooklyn Road

10am - 6pm

Te Kohao Health,

951 Wairere Drive, Hamilton East

Monday - 10am - 4pm

GP practices

General practices across the Waikato are testing patients and designated GPs are testing non-patients also. See Healthpoint for a full list of GPs offering COVID-19 testing or call your GP to check. COVID-19 tests are free. Please ring first to make an appointment.

Update on COVID-19 vaccinations in the Waikato DHB region

Reporting on vaccination rates is provided at TLA level. This data is as at 1.18pm, 11 October 2021.

Data at SA2 level (approximately equivalent to suburb) is available on the Ministry of Health website.

Vaccination data

To date (as at 9.04am 10 October), 478,973 COVID-19 vaccinations have been delivered in the Waikato.

• 281,264 first doses have been administered
• 197,709 second doses have been administered
• On Sunday 10 October, 3295 vaccinations were delivered across the Waikato.

Pop-up vaccination sites

The pop-up at Raglan Area School, 42 Norrie Avenue, is operating again on Monday from 10am to 3pm.

Vaccinations moves to Raglan rugby grounds car park from Tuesday 12 October 10am – 3pm (closed on Wednesday).

Vaccination clinics

• Walk-in appointments are available at many vaccination sites across the Waikato.
• People can now also bus free to and from their vaccination appointment if they show proof of their booking. See busit.co.nz/vaccination for more details.
• Mobile vaccination clinics are rolling out across the takiwā with regular visits to locations through to the end of the year. The schedule is on the Waikato DHB website and will be regularly updated with more dates and locations.

Reminder - Making a vaccination appointment

Although walk-ins are available at many vaccination sites, the best way of guaranteeing a vaccination on the time, day and place of your choosing is still to book.

• If you have made a booking and are not able to attend your appointment, please cancel your booking so someone else can use that appointment time.
• If you are unsure when your appointment is, check on the booking system at https://app.bookmyvaccine.covid19.health.nz/manage using your contact number or email address and booking reference. Alternatively, you can call 0800 28 29 26 for assistance.
• Everyone aged 12+ can now visit bookmyvaccine.nz to make their bookings.
• We ask everyone when attending their appointments under Alert Level 3 to follow the key public health measures detailed on the Unite Against COVID-19 website.

Update on changes to hospital services

To help protect our patients, staff and community as our Public Health service investigate these cases, Waikato DHB is limiting the number of people at our facilities.

A restricted visitor policy was put in place from Sunday afternoon in response to the two new community cases. The full policy can be viewed on our website.

From 4 October non-urgent face-to-face outpatient appointments, community services and surgeries have been deferred.

Wherever possible we will be shifting appointments to phone and/or telehealth options.

We acknowledge this will cause some inconvenience and appreciate the community’s understanding as we prioritise patient safety at this time. As our investigations progress we will continue to review this approach.

DHB staff will be contacting affected individuals with urgent procedures to confirm their appointments are going ahead or to provide details for telehealth.

Anyone who is not contacted prior to their appointment should please assume it has been deferred and they will be contacted at a later date to reschedule as required.

If people have flu-like symptoms

Do not come into the hospital if you have cold or flu-like symptoms.

If you 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.

© Scoop Media

Waikato District Health Board

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