Hawke’s Bay DHB has two new COVID-19 cases to report today.

Both cases are linked to a previously reported Delta case.

Medical Officer of Health Dr Nick Jones said Hawke’s Bay had a number of active COVID-19 clusters, which were related to both, now confirmed, Omicron and Delta variants.

Dr Jones said with both Omicron and Delta variants circulating in Hawke’s Bay it was vitally important that people who had any sign of cold and flu like illness got tested.

“While for many Omicron will be a mild to moderate disease for others it will be much more severe and people need to think about who they might infect if they don’t do the right thing by isolating and getting tested if they were sick.

“Our public health team is working very hard as there are many people associated with these clusters and people need to continue to check for new locations of interest, which would be added as inquiries continued.”

He urged people to continue to check the Ministry of Health’s locations of interest page for any new updates.

Drive-in testing centres and booked appointments are available and include:

Monday 31 January:

Tuesday 1 February:

Wednesday 2 February:

Thursday 3 February:

Friday 4 February:

To book a test:

appointment.

Dr Jones said vaccination was the best protection against COVID-19 and people eligible for their booster vaccination should get this done for an added layer of protection.

Boosters lower your chances of getting very sick and being hospitalised from COVID-19 including the Omicron variant, and help to slow the spread of the virus. If you’re 18 or older and it’s been 4 months since your second vaccine dose, get your booster as soon as you can. Book your booster or find a walk-in vaccination centre at BookMyVaccine.nz

Hawke’s Bay DHB now requires all visitors to Hawke’s Bay and Wairoa Hospitals along with Central Hawke’s Bay Medical Centre’s inpatient unit to wear surgical masks.

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