Covid 19 coronavirus: New Zealanders should “cheer up” in decreasing number of cases, but serious fears persist for group of dementia patients

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* Latest developments and essential information

New Zealanders should take collective efforts to end Covid-19 seriously “are paying dividends,” and case numbers continue to decline, says director-general for health.

But Ashley Bloomfield warned that more could die from a group of dementia patients in a nursing home who have had a Covid-19 outbreak.

The warning occurs when the death toll in the United States exceeds 20,000, overshadowing the figure for Italy. Globally, more than 100,000 people have died.

And a comedian best known for his role in the television comedy The Goodies has died after contracting coronavirus as global infections exceed 1.7 million.

British comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor, best known as part of ’70s comedy trio The Goodies alongside Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, died on Sunday morning (UKT). He is survived by his wife, Christine.

About 1,765,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in 185 countries and more than 108,000 people have died.

In New Zealand, three of the 13 groups belong to care facilities for the elderly, where New Zealanders most vulnerable to the virus live.

The other groups are in the George Manning Nursing Home in Christchurch, which has 15 cases, and the Atawhai Assis Nursing Home in Waikato, which has 14. The source of the infections at each facility is still being investigated.

Bloomfield has told district health boards to ensure that senior care facility practices and procedures are “watertight” to protect residents and staff.

“We have found that there were some shortcomings in the actual procedures and how they were implemented, and we want to make sure that all facilities have really good plans and procedures, they have access to the EPP [personal protective equipment] and you know how to use it. “

Staff should stay home if they are ill or have come in contact with a Covid-19 case, Bloomfield said.

The elderly care sector is calling for more nursing home testing to protect the lives of New Zealand’s most vulnerable.

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Only 18 new cases of Covid-19 were reported yesterday, the lowest daily total in three weeks, with a total of 1,330 cases, with 471 people recovered.

The death toll stood at four.

Nationwide, 14 people remain in the hospital, five in intensive care units, and one in critical condition in Dunedin.

Bloomfield expected the downward trend to continue in the coming days as testing increased.

“It is encouraging that we are seeing fewer cases and I believe that all New Zealanders should take seriously that our collective efforts are paying dividends.”

Two of the four Covid-19 deaths in New Zealand, a 90-year-old woman and a man in his 70s, were among a group that moved from Rosewood Rest Home to Burwood Hospital last week and there are still fears for others. 18 patients with dementia.

They have Covid-19, or have symptoms, and they are all isolated from each other at Burwood Hospital.

“These are people who are older, they are frail, they have high care needs and there are several of them with a Covid-19 infection and we may see more deaths in the coming days, to be honest with you about that,” he said. Bloomfield.

A man in his 80s who died at Wellington Public Hospital on Friday was connected to the Bluff wedding group.

Over the weekend, some members of the technical advisory group met to analyze test data to see which regions needed to increase their test rates to ensure that infections were not overlooked.

Bloomfield said he wanted to see evidence increase again this week and texted the Whanganui DHB executive director over the weekend asking them to be “more liberal.”

Whanganui has the lowest test rate in the country at just 3.8 per 1000 people compared to Wairarapa, the highest at 16.3 tests per 1000 people.

But there would be no mandatory testing of anyone moving into nursing homes, which the Elderly Care Association has asked for.

On average, 700 people move into senior care centers each week and all have to isolate themselves. People are only tested if they are symptomatic.

The association’s executive director, Simon Wallace, wants everyone to be evaluated, so if they are positive, they would not be admitted.

“We are taking a very responsible position that this is the most vulnerable group of people: they are the most susceptible to Covid-19.”

“If we have the capacity to do 5,000 tests a day, there would not be as many tests for the most vulnerable cohort in our population,” Wallace told the Herald.

He wrote to Bloomfield last week asking for mandatory evidence, but his proposal was rejected as evaluating people who were not symptomatic did not fit the definition of the case.

Meanwhile, the circumstances surrounding Auckland’s “private case” pool of 35 cases remained a mystery. Bloomfield said the event was “well defined” and that everyone involved had been contacted.

A group identified in a Spectrum facility that cares for the intellectually disabled now had 28 cases.

The infection originated in the community and then spread to Spectrum Care. Five cases are directly related to the care center, and the others are in homes.

Regarding compliance with the blockade, Bloomfield said there were 847 infractions and 109 prosecutions.

You still receive medical attention if you are sick

A drop in admissions to the emergency department and calls to the Healthline from people with very severe symptoms has caused concern.

Bloomfield urged anyone who was not feeling well, regardless of whether he was related to Covid-19, to still seek medical attention.

Wait times at Healthline were now less than 10 seconds, and doctors and hospitals had very strict procedures to make sure patients didn’t come in contact with the virus, he said.

If it is an emergency, call an ambulance.

“Don’t leave it too long to seek help. If you need medical attention for any health problem, seek help immediately,” said Bloomfield.

The normal Healthline number is 0800 611 116