Daily Media Update - Wednesday 12 August 2020

Southern health chiefs meeting on Level 2 implications - All services to be maintained at this stage

The Southern DHB’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr Susan Jack, Chief Executive Chris Fleming, Chief Medical Officer Dr Nigel Millar and other senior executives began meeting early this morning to discuss the implications of the return to Alert Level 2 for the health system in the Southern district.

The Prime Minister announced last night that all of New Zealand will return to Level 2 from noon today, with the exception of Auckland which returns to Alert Level 3.

In addition to the Southern DHB chiefs, Public Health and WellSouth primary health network leaders are also meeting this morning to put an action plan in place.

Southern DHB Chief Executive Chris Fleming said the SDHB will be supporting Primary Health and Public Health to ensure testing is ramped up and that we are prepared to conduct contact tracing and isolation of anyone necessary.

“The first lockdown taught us what was required of Southern’s health services during heightened alert levels, and in the past 100 days we have put in place plans for public health, primary and community care, aged residential care and our hospitals.  It means we know what actions will trigger certain responses. Over the next few days we will again be reviewing these plans to make sure they are completely up to date.

“At this stage we do not need to take any additional actions in terms of reducing services across our system.

“However, in terms of safety, the public can be assured that we will have the appropriate infection prevention and control measures in place for treating patients, and that where possible we are maintaining physical distancing within our facilities.

“Southern DHB has around 5,000 staff and we will be working throughout the day to communicate with them, and other health care workers across the district, to make sure they are aware of the latest decisions that affect both them and their patients and whānau.

“Decisions around hospital visitor restrictions and processes will be discussed by members of Southern’s Technical Advisory Group today, and these will be communicated to the public as soon as possible.

“We understand that aged residential care providers will be activating response plans, which include greater vigilance around hygiene, infection prevention and control, and managing staff and visitor movement,” he said.

Dr Susan Jack, Medical Officer of Health, Southern DHB said the public health response in the district would support the wider national response called for by the Prime Minister and Ministry of Health.

“At this stage it is important to reiterate that there is no evidence of any COVID-19 in the Southern district, however we need to ensure we remain vigilant and are ready to respond if the situation changes.”

Dr Jack urges anyone in the Southern district with flu-like symptoms to ring their GP or 0800 VIRUS19 and to get tested.

“Southerners by nature don’t want to make a fuss, but getting tested is the responsible thing to do and is a way of helping Public Health staff and your community.  By being tested you can help us identify whether or not COVID-19 is active in our community and where we need to concentrate efforts on tracing and eliminating it.

“People also need to maintain good hand hygiene, washing hands with soap for more than 20 seconds, rinsing and then drying thoroughly.  Cover your coughs and sneezes by sneezing or coughing into your elbow and maintaining social distancing.  If you are sick, please stay home.

“After such a long period of no community transmission, it is easy to become complacent and to relax around hand hygiene and social distancing, but now is the time to get back into good habits again.

“I also encourage people to download a contact tracing app such as the NZ COVID Tracer app or similar and to actively use it, and to consider having a face mask ready to use when in situations where physical distancing is difficult,” she said.

Information about COVID-19 in Southern and the latest updates will be available on the Southern Health website www.southernhealth.nz and the Southern DHB’s Facebook page.

ENDS.