Treat Omicron with respect – not fear – and do all you can to flatten the curve
Nelson Marlborough Health Chief Medical Officer Nick Baker says increasing numbers of cases means people must act as if Omicron is in their neighbourhood.
“The pandemic we have had for the last two years has been a pandemic of planning and prevention. Now we are managing COVID-19, we need to treat it with respect, not fear.
“For most people COVID-19 remains a mild disease. For a small number of people it is very serious.”
“The peak is coming and by being cautious now we can continue to flatten the peak. This is important because the peak is not the end – we will continue to see cases of this potentially nasty disease for some time.
“We can all help to flatten the curve. Slowing the spread benefits all parts of our society, keeping services and supply chains working.
“The continuing functioning of our society requires us to avoid being sick at the same time. If everyone gets sick at once, that causes a bigger problem for our whole community.”
Nelson Marlborough Medical Officer of Health Dr Stephen Bridgman re-iterates the need for people to think of the wellbeing of the whole community, and to take all the preventative measures they can.
“Our community has responded well to COVID-19 and I thank the public for their perseverance.
“The number of cases is increasing. There are approximately 100,000 positive cases in New Zealand today. That’s roughly 1 in 50 people.
“But it is not inevitable that you will get COVID-19. Taking precautions is worth it. Wearing a mask, social distancing, sanitising, scanning in, vaccinations and boosters – all of these measures help protect you, your whānau and others in our community.
“If you do start to have symptoms, get a test. If it is confirmed or you remain unwell, you will need to self isolate.
“There is excellent up-to-date information on the Unite against Covid-19 website”
If you have COVID-19 | Unite against COVID-19 (covid19.govt.nz)
Case Update
New cases: 276*
- Nelson: 141
- Tasman: 80
- Marlborough: 46
- Other/Unknown: 9
Active cases: 1,649*
- Nelson: 1,026
- Tasman: 348
- Marlborough: 248
- Other: 20
- Unknown: 7
* The numbers reported may differ from Ministry of Health reporting due to different data reporting cut-off times. Unknown cases are where positive results have been recorded but data is not yet available to assign the case to Nelson Tasman, Marlborough or Other.
RATs for household contacts or people showing symptoms
If you are showing COVID-19 symptoms or are a household contact, you can either pre-order a RAT online to collect, or go to a community testing site.
- Pre-orders: Request a RAT | Ministry of Health NZ (covid19.health.nz)
- Community testing centres: Nelson Marlborough COVID-19 Community-Based Assessment Centres (CBACs) • Healthpoint