December 20, 2022
Covid peak yet to come
The chief medical officer for Te Aka Whai Ora the Māori Health Authority, Dr Rawiri Jansen, is urging Māori to get boosted before their summer break.
Dr Rawiri McKree-Jansen says despite low self reporting, waste water testing shows Aotearoa is well into a third wave of Covid-19.
With the peak year to come whanau, whanau need to remember good hygiene measures to stave of the virus.
“Covid’s not done with us and we’ve got a bit of work to do and I’m sort of encouraging everybody stay the distance, let’s keep going, we know we can do good stuff and protect whanau so masks and boosters and if you get Covid, seven days at home. If you’re eligible, get that medicine that protects you from the worst effects of Covid, that’s Paxlovid,” Dr Jansen says.
The seven day rolling average is now up to 6099 cases a day, with 581 cases in hospital at Midnight Sunday and 15 in ICU.
There were 31 deaths over the past week, and New Zealand has passed 2 million total cases since the start of the pandemic.