Daily Media Update - Tuesday 21 April 2020

No new cases for third consecutive day

The Ministry of Health has announced no new COVID-19 cases in the Southern district today. The region’s total remains 216, with 36 active cases and 179 now recovered.

No new cases were also reported on Sunday and Monday, which means this is now the third consecutive day since the outbreak began in Southern, that no new cases have been notified in the district.

Medical Officer of Health, Southern, Dr Susan Jack welcomed the news with cautious optimism.

“It is very pleasing.  We are now seeing the positive effects of both the border restrictions and moving to Alert Level 4.

“Early cases were usually connected with overseas travel which has now stopped – so the tap has been turned off.  More recent cases have been close household contacts who have been largely contained in their bubbles and, as people have not been out and about, transmission has stopped at the household.”

Dr Jack reminded people with any symptoms or concerns to contact their GP or Healthline and to be referred to the Community Based Assessment Centre for testing.

“We need everyone to be vigilant and to seek help immediately, so we can make sure people receive the treatment and monitoring they need, and we can continue to stamp out COVID-19 in Southern.

“People throughout the community have made huge sacrifices and worked very hard to get us to this stage, so we need to keep doing the right thing to keep on top of it,” she said.

Please note confirmed and probable cases are combined, to match Ministry case reporting. For a breakdown by Territorial Authority please visit the Southern Health website: 

https://www.southernhealth.nz/sdhbCOVID19/cases-updates 

ENDS.