South's Covid cases centre on Queenstown

The Southern District Health Board has reported 39 new community cases of Covid-19 today, the bulk of them in the Queenstown-Lakes district.

There’s 35 new cases in the area, bringing the number of active cases in the Queenstown-Lakes to 100.

Across the whole Southern region there is 118 active community cases.

For now, Central Otago remains officially Covid-free. 

Current cases as of 11.59pm 15 February 2022 (Source: SDHB)

 
Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO.

There's 484 close contacts isolating throughout the Southern district, and 335 of these are in the Queenstown-Lakes district.  

Eight new close contact locations in or around Queenstown have been added to the Ministry of Health’s alert list so far today.

Among them, newly-opened entertainment complex Kingpin.

A spokesperson for the SDHB says people should get tested only if they have symptoms or have been at a location of interest and have been advised to get tested.

“Otherwise, you do not need to get tested.

“It is important that we ensure people who are symptomatic or have been asked to get tested are able to do so.”

WellSouth director of nursing Wendy Findlay says testing venues in the Queenstown area and across the district have been busy in recent days.

People queue for a Covid-19 test at a testing centre in Queenstown, Wednesday, February 16.

On Tuesday there were 434 Covid tests taken in Queenstown; despite the heavy concentration of locations of interest and case numbers in the Queenstown-Lakes district, across the Southern region, the number was 1837.

Crux has been told of people being turned away at a testing centre on Tuesday afternoon, however there’s no shortage of swabs locally, or regionally, Ms Findlay says.

“One testing site did access additional swabs from a local supply yesterday, but this did not cause delay in testing and needing extra supplies is not out of the ordinary.

“We have good processes in places for ensuring we can move testing kits or increase testing where it is needed.”

Waiting times vary between sites, and at different times of the day, but staff are keeping up with the queues, she says.

“We have not had reports of excessive wait times and we hope that waiting 15 to 20 minutes for a swab will not deter people from getting tested.”

People should expect to wait two to three days for a test result.

Pop-up testing centres are an option, if needed, she says.