Monthly Archives: September 2020

Kawerau COVID update 26 September 2020

This entry was posted in News and tagged COVID-19 Kawerau on by

After yesterday’s news about Kawerau residents having been in contact with confirmed positive COVID cases there were already some inaccurate rumours circulating yesterday afternoon. It is important to share accurate updated information now available.

There is ONE Kawerau resident who is a close contact. They were contacted on Wednesday morning 23 September by Public Health and moved into managed isolation outside of Kawerau on Wednesday evening. Their initial COVID test is negative and they will remain in isolation for 14 days and be retested as per standard guidelines.

There are no other close contacts in Kawerau.

No businesses have been asked to close by Public Health.

The swabbing centre that is open tomorrow at the Ron Hardie Recreation Centre from 10am to 2pm was scheduled some weeks ago and is not in response to this single close contact.

Kawerau COVID testing Sunday 27 Sept 10am-2pm

This entry was posted in Health promotion News and tagged coronavirus COVID-19 swabbing testing on by

With Kawerau making the news as a location that has residents who were in contact with COVID positive cases in Taupo, there is going to be a community swabbing centre running this Sunday 27 September from 10:00am to 2:00pm. This will be at the usual location, the Ron Hardie Recreation Centre.

Close contacts have been contacted by Public Health and are being managed with isolation and testing. It is important for anyone with symptoms to get a test done and to remain at home if sick.

Please take the opportunity to get a test on Sunday if you feel you need one. Do not wait for after the weekend as we have very limited capacity for swabbing in General Practice.

Nurses Strike. COVID-19 Update 2 September 2020

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Thursday 3 September is the second strike announced by the New Zealand Nurses Organisation to press for pay parity with their DHB employed colleagues. As part of the General Practice team we are in full support of this. Pay parity is essential to enable us to maintain equity and a fair chance of recruiting nurses to maintain service to the community.

As a Very Low Cost Access practice we have no control over the fees we can charge. All our charges are stipulated by our contract with the Department of Health so we are reliant on them to increase payment to achieve pay parity for nurses.

The initial strike was for 2 hours which we managed to accommodate but on Thursday is for 8 hours from 8am to 4pm. With our Nursing and Reception team unavailable for that time we are not able to safely open so the Tarawera Medical Centre will be closed on Thursday 3 September.

The appointments lost on this day have been moved to Tuesday and Friday. On Thursday urgent problems will have to be dealt with via ED. Healthline is also available for advice on 0800 611 116. The COVID swabbing clinic is also open on Thursday from 10am to 2pm.

From Friday 4 September we will be opening the surgery again but require everyone entering the practice to wear a mask. If you do not have one we can supply masks for $1 each. People with respiratory symptoms will need to use their vehicle as their personal waiting room until being seen in the cabin behind the surgery.