SDHB COVID-19 Update 20 May 2022

SOUTHLAND HOSPITAL UPDATE

The Medical, Surgical and Rehabilitation wards at Southland Hospital remain closed to visitors.  

We currently have 19 patients in Southland Hospital with COVID-19, and visiting restrictions remain tightened to protect our vulnerable patients. 

We are currently unable to transfer any patients to Dunedin Hospital due to capacity issues says Simon Donlevy, General Manager Southland, Southern DHB.   

“Over the past 6 weeks or so, we have transferred approximately 15 patients to Dunedin in order to preserve our COVID beds and continue to allow patient flow.  

“We have not been able to transfer patients for the last 48 hours due to capacity issues that exist across the District,” he says.  

“We understand that ongoing visitor restrictions may be distressing for patients and their families, and we thank you for your patience and understanding. We appreciate you supporting our health care team to keep our community safe. “

Visiting is available under compassionate grounds. Please contact the ward for further information. 

Current visiting restrictions remain for all other areas with patients to the Emergency Department and Outpatients allowed one support person. Please contact Maternity services and Children’s Ward for specific visitor information. 

We continue to review this regularly and will provide an update when restrictions ease.   

COVID-19 and Surgery

If you are having surgery and have had COVID-19, or get it while you are waiting for surgery, please get in contact with your surgical team right away. 

There is evidence that COVID-19 infection near the time of an operation can increase complications such as pneumonia and blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolus). 

Your surgical team need to know when your COVID-19 infection happened so that they can take this into account when balancing the risk of delaying the surgery with the risk of complications that could arise because of your COVID-19 infection.

So that you can get the best care and treatment possible it is very important that if you are scheduled for surgery and you get COVID-19, you call your surgical team immediately. The team can then discuss the best way forward with you.

Most operations can still safely take place following 4 to 8 weeks after recovery from COVID-19. Your surgical team will be able to discuss what is best for you in your individual situation. 

Please remember the following:

• If you have had COVID-19, tell your surgical team immediately
• If you catch COVID-19 while waiting for your surgery, tell your surgical team immediately

Hospitalisation figures

Current hospitalisations as at 8am 20 May 2022  

Please note that hospitalisation data does not differentiate between patients admitted because of COVID-19 infection versus those admitted for a separate reason who happen to also have COVID-19. Hospital numbers reported by the Southern DHB include those in mental health wards.   

The Ministry of Health total figures for Southern for the previous 24 hours are:

• 591 new positive cases 
• 4411 (not recovered from last 7 days) 

Current cases as of 11.59pm 19 May 2022  

Please note, the Ministry of Health’s daily reported cases may differ slightly from those reported at a DHB or local public health unit level. This is because of different reporting cut off times and the assignment of cases between regions, for example when a case is tested outside their usual region of residence. Total numbers will always be the formal daily case tally as reported to the WHO. Due to the increased use of RATs and system lag issues there may be a discrepancy in the number of total active cases from the territorial authority breakdown.

A decision has been made nationally that areas with less than 5 new cases per 24-hour period will be reported as “<5”. All territorial authorities with less than 100 cases will have their case numbers rounded to the nearest 5. We are unable to supply further information. Please contact the Ministry of Health directly for more information about these decisions.  

Key contacts

• For questions about COVID-19 case numbers and vaccination, contact SDHB: communications@southerndhb.govt.nz 
• For questions about COVID-19 testing and case monitoring in the community, contact WellSouth: communications@wellsouth.org.nz    

 ENDS