COVID-19


Kawerau COVID update 26 September 2020

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

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.


COVID-19 Update 31 July 2020

Waiting Room display by tamariki of Room 6, Kawerau South School

Things are slowly settling into a “new normal” with the risk of COVID-19 significantly diminished. Our waiting room is again open but we need to keep numbers low with safe spacing. This means that the previous walk-in clinics can no longer be safely run. We still have morning clinics for brief urgent problems but these are all by appointment only, so please phone if you want to book into this clinic. We still offer phone consultations if you feel your problem can be managed in this way.

We still need to keep people with respiratory illnesses outside of the main surgery building as much as possible to limit the risk of spreading illness to staff or other patients. Signs are displayed prominently asking anyone with coughs or colds to put on a mask and contact us from their car. They are then triaged to be seen in the surgery or in the cabin behind the surgery. Please follow this advice to help us to keep delivering safe services to the community.

We have unfortunately had a number of people wander in and ignore the information, sit coughing in the waiting room and then head in to see a doctor or nurse while clearly infectious. This places the whole service at risk as when any of us come down with illness we can no longer come in to work. Please be considerate of others and stay away from work while sick.

The COVID-19 lockdown has seen a dramatic decrease in winter colds but this gain will be quickly lost if sick people spread the viruses through the community and we drop our guard with cough etiquette and hand hygiene.

On a brighter note we have had a lovely display put up in the waiting room by the tamariki of Room 6 at Kawerau South School as an appreciation for essential workers that kept things running through lockdown. This has really brightened the waiting room and, along with all the cherry trees bursting into bloom, reminded us that Spring is on the way


COVID-19 Update 15 May 2020 – Level 2

As a country we can feel proud of the efforts we have made and the results achieved by the level 4 and 3 restrictions. There have been significant sacrifices made but we have done far better at limiting the explosion of cases with loss of life that other countries have suffered. This link to the Financial Times show some interesting interactive graphs. We don’t want to lose those gains.

Evidence from Italy was that GP waiting rooms were a significant factor in the spread of COVID-19 which is why we closed our waiting room on Monday 23 March, even prior to the first level 3 announcement. We cannot go back to a scenario where sick people are together in the waiting room risking the spread of viral infections to each other. We will continue to expect you to use your vehicle as your personal safe waiting room as much as possible.

Prior to entering the medical centre you will be asked if you have symptoms of possible COVID-19, in order to protect staff and vulnerable patients. We are keeping a sign in sign out book of all patients entering the building to facilitate contact tracing if needed.

With level 2 we will be able to start seeing more patients in the surgery. We will still aim to manage as much as possible by phone or video consult but Reception will be able to start booking appointments again provided you do not have any risks of a viral infection. The evidence that we have suggests the incidence of COVID-19 in the community is extremely low, especially in the Eastern BOP. To have certainty and confidence around this a lot of testing will need to still be done for anyone with symptoms that could be COVID related. At present this will still be done via CBACs. We are still waiting to hear what the plans for CBACs are in level 2 (there may only be a testing station). It remains crucial that if you have any symptoms of runny nose, sore throat, cough, fever or loss of smell that you get tested and don’t just arrive unannounced at the surgery. 

Walk-in clinics remain suspended as this is a major risk of sick people congregating and spreading infection. If you would like to arrange a consultation please phone before 11:30am. Reception will then arrange an appointment if appropriate for phone/video/in person. This will, as usual, depend on availability. If things cannot be dealt with by Reception you will be placed on a “Phone Triage” list to be called by a nurse or doctor later in the day or later in the week depending on the problem. 

Phone and video consultations are allocated the same amount of time as a traditional face to face consult and charged the same. Records are viewed prior, notes, referrals, lab request and prescriptions are generated and sent after so the remote consultation is not just the time spent on the phone or video link. Consultations for ACC and WINZ certificates can still be done by phone consult. Online banking is preferred to limit contact with cash/card terminal. 

Routine nursing and screening services will be gradually reintroduced so appointments will be possible for smears, diabetes reviews and cardiovascular risk assessments. 

We have been advised to defer Driving Licence assessments until Level 1. Licences that expired after 1 January 2020 have been extended to October so there is no urgency around these at present.

Influenza vaccination is still available and we have good supplies. This is available if you come to the door and knock between 9am and 3pm. 


COVID-19 Update 23 March 2020

Today has been a crazy day with the change in the way we have to run the practice to keep our patients safe and with the escalation to pandemic alert level three.

Our team worked brilliantly under trying conditions with internet access lost and severe limitations on phone capacity due to the volume of calls. Despite this we managed to safely attend to every patient that arrived at the practice, issued over six times the number of scripts we do in the day and were continually on surgery landlines and personal mobile phones to deal with patient issues remotely.

It is important to emphasise that as an essential service the surgery and pharmacies remain operational regardless of the alert level. There is no need to panic and request scripts earlier than you normally would. We will be there to help deal with your issues when you need us.

We anticipate that tomorrow will run as smoothly as today but should be an improvement as the internet returned just before we closed at 6pm tonight. Spark is arranging additional phone lines for us and we will be exploring video consultation options. Tomorrow will also see the start of influenza vaccination clinics as advised in an earlier post today.