Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Cases peak in Canterbury, expected to decline slowly

Omicron has reportedly peaked in Canterbury with new cases beginning to decline. Photo / George Heard

Omicron has peaked in Canterbury with cases expected to decline slowly over the next few weeks.

Canterbury District Health Board chief executive Peter Bramley made the announcement on Monday.

"I think we can safely say that we are now coming down from the peak, and it will be a slow steady decrease over a number of weeks," he said.

"As I've said before, and will say again, it's not over. This is a time to remain vigilant with mask wearing, staying home if you're sick, RAT testing if you have symptoms, and keeping up with all the good public health habits that help keep us all safe."

In mid-March, it was revealed the CDHB area had the highest number of active community cases in the country.

The area still holds that title with 14,862 active cases as of Monday. It is followed by Waikato with 8255 and Southern with 7940.

The virus peaked in Auckland about three weeks ago with other areas following shortly after. Canterbury lagged behind with numbers continuing to track upwards until now.

Bramley said even as Covid-19 cases peak in Canterbury, it has had far fewer hospitalisations than most other regions.

Ministry of Health data shows as of Monday, 49 people were in hospital with Covid-19 in the region. That compares to 108 in Auckland and 131 in Counties Manukau.

"Our strong vaccination rates have certainly helped prepare and protect us, but the role played by all our health partners has been the difference between managing this
outbreak and collapsing under the weight of it all."

In mid-March, it was revealed the CDHB area had the highest number of active community cases in the country. Photo / Supplied

In the past 20 days, 126 CDHB staff have been deployed to aged residential care facilities
and 75 have helped out at community-based testing centres, Bramley said.

23 have gone to GPs and primary care and 251 staff have been deployed to different areas across the region.

New cases of Covid in the community are also declining nationally with 10,205 cases reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, from 11.59pm on Monday, there is no longer a requirement to use My Vaccine Pass.

Businesses will still be able to use the system if they would like to.