Hawke's Bay District Health Board medical officer of health Nick Jones has thanked close contacts of Covid cases for following public health advice. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay District Health Board medical officer of health Nick Jones has thanked close contacts of Covid cases for following public health advice. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hawke's Bay's tally of people fully vaccinated against Covid-19 has surpassed 100,000, but testing numbers for the last four weeks have plateaued in spite of two residents being close contacts of a positive case.
The positive case was a traveller from Waikato who had an exemption to travel to Napieron Friday, October 15.
They returned a positive test once they returned to Waikato.
Two of the person's close contacts in Hawke's Bay -, one in Wairoa and one in Napier -returned negative test results on day six and day 12. They will remain in isolation for the full 14 days.
Hawke's Bay District Health Board medical officer of health Dr Nick Jones said he would again like to thank the close contacts identified for following public health advice and doing the right thing.
He said it is reassuring the results were negative and it was a timely reminder for Hawke's Bay residents to continue following Covid-19 alert level 2 advice when out and about.
For the seven days ending October 25, 895 people were tested for Covid across Hawke's Bay.
"If you are not yet vaccinated, it remains your best protection against Covid-19 and I strongly urge people unvaccinated to get protected and get it done.
"If you are still not sure about it talk to a healthcare provider you trust or to whānau or friends who have already been vaccinated.
"Having that first dose will take a huge load off your mind."
However, Covid testing over a two-week period including the days following the announcement of the positive case, and close contacts barely increased.
Ministry of Health data shows for the week of October 11 to 17, there were 1549 tests in the region, and for the week of October 18 to 24 there were 1596 tests undertaken.
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rick Barker said the testing numbers were counterbalanced by the number of people who were vaccinated against Covid. Photo / Paul Taylor
Wairoa District Council mayor Craig Little said he wasn't surprised the testing numbers had not spiked.
"When the announcement came out, the rumour mill went wild and there was a bit of panic, but with the DHB result coming out fairly quick, the panic died down.
"The person who tested negative also did everything right, as did the company he works for.
"So I am not surprised the testing numbers overall haven't shot up. However I still urge people to get vaccinated, there's no conspiracy, and if they are showing symptoms I urge them to get tested."
Hawke's Bay Regional Council chairman Rick Barker said the testing numbers needed to be kept in perspective.
"The number of people who are getting vaccinated against Covid have risen quite significantly, this counterbalances the testing numbers.
"People who have the vaccination aren't necessarily getting tested anymore, but it's great to see the vaccination numbers in the region going up."
As of Thursday, Hawke's Bay's Pasifika community hit the 100 per cent vaccination mark.
The DHB stated they expected the vaccination coverage to exceed 100 per cent because in addition to Pacific residents, RSE workers and non-residents were also getting vaccinated, but were not formally captured in the population data.
