Covid-19 Omicron: One new location of interest in Hunterville

There are four locations of interest across the Whanganui DHB, two in Hunterville, one in Bulls and one in Waiouru. Photo / Bevan Conley

There is one new location of interest in the Whanganui District Health Board region.

Park and Rest Toilet, located on SH1 in Hunterville, is the newest location of interest.

It was visited on January 27 (last Thursday) between 12.24pm and 1.35pm.

This adds to Taylors in Hunterville, the National Army Museum Waiouru and BP Connect in Bulls that were revealed as locations of interest by the Ministry of Health on Sunday afternoon.

If symptoms develop, people should get a test and stay at home until they get a negative test result.

Rangitīkei District mayor Andy Watson said people were very likely to stop in the region as they were passing through.

"It is a huge part of our district and we have an enormous land area. State Highway 1 runs right through it.

"We are a couple of hours away from Wellington and a couple of hours away from Taupo. People are going to stop, it is always going to happen. There is a degree of inevitably around this.

"It is a timely reminder that the best protection we have is to be vaccinated and get boosted."

Meanwhile, Whanganui remains one of a few regions without a confirmed active case as of Sunday afternoon.

There were 91 new community cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand on Monday.

The community-based assessment centre (CBAC) at Whanganui Hospital has seen a steady flow of locals getting tested, with an average of 56 people getting swabbed each day in the last seven days.

The booster uptake across the Whanganui DHB has been promising, with over 2500 administered from Monday to Friday last week.

Wednesday saw the most locals get boosted, with 640 administered.

The next highest day was Tuesday with 598 administered.

Whanganui DHB is just 402 doses away from 90 per cent vaccination.

Northland and Tairawhiti were the only two other DHBs under 90 per cent.

Everyone in New Zealand was asked to act as if Omicron was circulating in their community, the Ministry of Health said.

"That means wearing a mask, physical distancing and scanning in using the Covid-19 Tracer app, when you're out and about."

The most common early symptoms of Omicron were a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose.

People with these symptoms, should get a test, and stay at home until receiving a negative result.

Locations of interest in the Whanganui DHB region:

Park and rest Hunterville Toilet on Thursday, January 27, between 12.24pm and 1.35pm.

• BP Connect Bulls on Thursday, January 27, between 1.45pm and 1.50pm.

• Taylors 1998 Ltd Hunterville on Thursday, January 27, between 1.03pm and 1.10pm.

• National Army Museum, Waiouru on Thursday, January 27, between 11.42am and 11.50am.