March 14, 2022
Surge abates but tough cases strain hospitals
The chief medical officer of Counties Manukau District Health Board says while the Omicron surge in the region may be peaking, the disease should not be taken lightly.
Of the 15, 562 new cases of Covid-19 reported today, under a third were in Tāmaki Makaurau, with Counties Manukau reporting just 1954 new cases.
Dr Andrew Connolly says those who are fully vaccinated and boosted are likely to have just mild symptoms, but the hospital is seeing a rising number of very young children affected, some with very nasty symptoms.
“This remains a dangerous disease and for people in particular whose general health isn’t ideal to start with, they may have diabetes it’s tough to manage, or their lungs may well not be as good as they used to be, those people, in particular, are suffering a lot from this disease so whilst many people are better quickly, the impact on some is huge and that puts a big impact on the hospitals and our general practice community colleagues,” he says.
Dr Connolly says while wait times at Middlemore’s accident and emergency unit are longer than usual, he hasn’t heard any complaints of staff being abused.