Covid 19 coronavirus: Key points from Kapiti medical centres

Combined message from Kāpiti medical centres: Waikanae Health, Paraparaumu Medical, Mahara Health, Coastal Medical, Team Medical, Raumati Surgery, Cammack & Evans, Hora Te Pai, Natural Healing, Otaki Medical Centre.

Be kind, stay at home, we are all in this together.

Here is what the local Kāpiti health centres are doing to keep you, your family and our community safe.

* All of the Kāpiti health centres will remain open, providing staff remain healthy to do so. Some centres are pulling back on their extended hours, so please check the practice's website for opening hours. All centres have after-hours/oncall facilities, these are on their websites.

* It is important to call first before going to any of the clinics – please do not just turn up. When calling be honest about your symptoms – the practices need to ensure the highest infection control, so need to be prepared.

* It is important, if you are eligible for a flu vaccination, to get this done. However, current supplies are limited, so each clinic is proactively reaching out to their most vulnerable patients to let them know when they can be vaccinated. Please do not call the practices, but be patient – if you need to be vaccinated, then you will be.

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* Patients registered on a patient portal (MMH or MyIndici) should continue to use this for their non-urgent routine healthcare (eg prescription repeats) – there may be some delays in responses.

* Consultations are being done, where possible by telephone – if you do need to come in to see us in person then this will happen.

* If you have flu type symptoms and feel you may have Covid-19, please stay home and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453. If they feel you need to be swabbed, they will refer you to your GP – you currently need a GP referral to go to the local swabbing station, so please do not just turn up there, as you will be turned away.

* Practices use their websites, patient portals, email, text and Facebook to keep patients up to date. Consider joining their Facebook page (if there is one available) as this is the easiest way to keep most up to date.

* Best information is www.covid19.govt.nz – there is a Facebook page as well.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website