High hospitalisations and presentations were continuing to place pressure across hospitals in New Zealand. Video / NZ Herald
As New Zealand's Covid-19 death toll nears 100, more tales of how stretched the medical system is have emerged – including legal teams doing hospital security and a CFO handing out meals.
Health authorities reported seven deaths yesterday - the highest number in a single day in New Zealand related to the virus. There were 20,989 new Covid-19 community cases and 856 people in hospital, 20 of them in intensive care.
A total of 98 people have now died in New Zealand with Covid-19.
Northern Region Health Coordination Centre (NRHCC) chief clinical officer Dr Andrew Old said half of those in ICU were in Auckland as staff across the city's hospitals were picking up jobs outside their normal roles to help manage demand.
At Waitematā DHB, the entire legal team had been redeployed to support security guards and the chief financial officer had been working the wards, delivering patient meals.
Anaesthetists at Auckland Hospital were working as phlebotomists and taking blood, while members of the executive leadership team were working in the emergency department, making beds, answering calls and clearing linen skips.
At Counties Manukau DHB, public health nurses were helping in hospital roles, allied health clinicians were assisting orderly teams, and registered nurses, healthcare assistants and on-call staff had picked up shifts outside their normal hours to fill roster gaps.
"The situation in our hospital, with pressure from patients with Covid combined with high staff absences due to Covid, is unprecedented, certainly in my career," Old said.
"It's thanks to the awesome dedication and flexibility of our staff that we are continuing to provide safe, urgent care for everyone who needs it."
Regional chair of the Australia and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Dr Craig Carr said the demand on intensive care was a real challenge, but teams were holding up reasonably well.
Prior to Covid, 12 to 15 per cent of elective surgery in New Zealand that required intensive care was postponed because of a lack of ICU capacity, and Covid-19 was causing that postponement rate to rise.
"Our big fear as a community is that will involve postponement of essential cancer surgery, essential cardiac surgery. That's certainly the experience we're seeing from colleagues overseas.
"My biggest fear is that in the few months that we are dealing with lots of Covid patients in hospital, that other patients might actually suffer through the deferment of their treatment for non-Covid related illness. My biggest hope is that this as small as possible."
Carr understands of the around 170 resourced ICU beds in New Zealand, about 150 or 89 per cent were occupied. Yesterday, there were 20 people in ICU units.
The society was thankful for the funding boost announced in December by Health Minister Andrew Little for extra capacity, but it would take time for that money to flow through the system and result in more ICU beds.
The health workforce across Auckland is under pressure as hundreds of people are hospitalised with Covid-19. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Carr said the challenges intensive care faced today included working 12 to 13 hour shifts in hot PPE gear and tight N95 marks which often left pressures areas on the skin requiring protective dressings to stop skin damage.
During a stressful day, catching up with colleagues on a coffee or lunch break in the staff room was a good way to debrief, Carr said. But that was not possible during Covid as staff needed to socially distance when taking their mask off to eat.
"It becomes less social to be at work. On top of that, people are needing to juggle things at home; their children might have been at school where they have a Covid exposure," he said.
The Ministry of Health said yesterday's seven deaths, the highest reported in single day since Covid-19 arrived in 2020, was a reminder the variant could still cause serious illness and death either directly or by its impact of other health conditions.
"It important to remember that each of these deaths represents significant loss for family and loved ones."
Five of the deaths were in Auckland, one was in Waikato and one was in the Southern region. One person who died was in their 50s, four were in their 70s, one was their 80s and one person was in their 90s.
Today is the first day of the reduced self-isolation period for Covid-19 cases and their household. The isolation period has been reduced from 10 days to seven days.
In announcing the change, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said there needed to be a balance between effectively controlling the outbreak and the flow-on effects for businesses and essential services.
"The most up-to-date public health advice is that there is a decline in infectiousness of Omicron over time, and that in most cases transmission occurs within seven days."
