Public Health Update July 2020
COVID-19
Much has changed since our last Public Health Newsletter in February - at that time COVID-19 had just been made a notifiable disease, we had no confirmed cases in the Canterbury, South Canterbury or West Coast DHBs, and the terms ‘lockdown’ and ‘alert level’ were not yet part of our everyday language.
Now at Alert Level 1 things have changed again. Community and Public Health is currently providing a public health presence at the border as well as supporting the management of those in local isolation and quarantine facilities following their return from overseas. After a period with no new cases in the CPH region, two new confirmed cases were identified last week among those in managed isolation in Christchurch (cases identified in isolation and quarantine facilities are currently being reported nationally). We are also developing systems and a potential workforce to manage much larger numbers of COVID-19 cases should they occur.
New case definition
As you will know, the Ministry of Health recently released an update to the COVID-19 case definition which has been amended to remove ‘suspect’ case definition and to introduce higher index of suspicion (HIS) criteria to provide guidance around risk assessment. Please notifiy Community and Public Health using the notification form on HealthPathways if your patient meets both the clinical and HIS criteria.
Āwhina - access information about COVID-19 and access HealthPathways through this new mobile app
A new mobile app, Āwhina, has been released by the Ministry of Health to help health workers access information they need about COVID-19. The app provides quick access to key information such as the latest case definition, and allows you to select the types of notifications you want to receive. Another useful feature is having Community HealthPathways at your fingertips – wherever you are. Once you have downloaded the app, click the ‘hamburger menu’ (3 bars at the top left of your screen) and select the options to see Canterbury, South Canterbury, or West Coast DHB Community HealthPathways.
Āwhina is free to download from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. For more information, visit Āwhina app.
A snapshot of COVID-19 in the CPH region
Case numbers – Confirmed and probable cases, by District Health Board [data to week ending 28/06/2020]
(Please note this does not include cases identified at the border in managed quarantine or isolation facilities)
| |
Canterbury DHB |
South Canterbury DHB |
West Coast DHB |
| TOTAL confirmed cases |
99 |
15 |
4 |
| TOTAL probable cases |
65 |
2 |
1 |
| TOTAL cases |
164 |
17 |
5 |
Ethnicity of confirmed and probable cases
[data to week ending 28/06/2020]
| Prioritised ethnicity |
European |
Māori |
Pacific |
Asian |
Other |
Unknown |
| Canterbury DHB |
122 |
7 |
9 |
17 |
2 |
7 |
| South Canterbury DHB |
13 |
1 |
|
3 |
|
|
| West Coast DHB |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
Ages of confirmed and probable cases
[data to week ending 28/06/2020]
| Age (in years) |
<15 |
15-24 |
25-44 |
45-64 |
65+ |
| Canterbury DHB |
7 |
24 |
57 |
42 |
34 |
| South Canterbury DHB |
1 |
|
6 |
4 |
6 |
| West Coast DHB |
|
|
3 |
|
2 |
Epidemic curve – case numbers by onset date (or report date if onset date unavailable) by District Health Board, over time
[data to week ending 28/06/2020]
|
