The Waikato DHB can now process up to 800 Covid-19 tests a day. Photo / Alan Gibson
The Waikato DHB can now process up to 800 Covid-19 tests a day. Photo / Alan Gibson
Waikato DHB has rapidly upscaled its Covid-19 testing capacity to 800 samples a day as the region recorded its first death from the virus today.
The DHB region tested its 7000th Covid-19 sample today, as they rolled out Community Based Assessment Centres (CBACs) at 10 locations across key areas where a cluster has been found.
"Developing and implementing a new test method involves a lot of validation to ensure that patients are provided with high-quality results. The laboratory team has worked tirelessly to get the testing up and running," Waikato DHB laboratory manager Kay Stockman said.
"This has been an unprecedented increase in our volume of work over a short time-frame."
The Waikato DHB can now process up to 800 Covid-19 tests a day. Photo / Alan Gibson
Today was the first day since the initial week of Covid-19 being recorded in the New Zealand population that the number of new positive cases was in the single digits.
Eight new Covid-19 cases were recorded today but also two deaths, including a man in his 90s who died in Waikato Hospital yesterday.
He was admitted on Saturday night "very unwell". His infection was linked to a previously known and reported Matamata cluster.
In total, there have been 1409 coronavirus cases in New Zealand. Fourteen people are in hospital, three in ICU with two in a critical condition.
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The DHB set up five pop-up CBACs at Waikato Countdown supermarkets on Thursday and Friday this week in areas where there had been confirmed Covid-19 cases.
"They are supporting random testing of asymptomatic people to provide the Ministry of Health with data which provides greater confidence in the overall picture of Covid-19 in our communities and New Zealand as a whole," Waikato DHB said in a statement.
"Supermarkets were selected as the place where we are most likely to find people during the lockdown and Countdown is supporting the activity."
Waikato DHB say it had been encouraging residents to visit CBACs and has recorded one of the highest-testing volumes in the country with nearly 7000 tests completed to date.
This equates to 11,900 tests per million population, well above the national rate of 8881 tests per million.
Waikato DHB CBACs have been testing more than 80 per cent of people presenting for assessment, following the latest national Covid-19 case definition update.
A full list of CBACs in the Waikato are available here.
