Covid-19: High testing demand as Nelson outbreak grows to 14

Health officials are working to determine the cause of the Covid-19 outbreak in Nelson.

There are currently 14 cases of the virus in Nelson and Tasman. All are in isolation or quarantine.

Nelson Marlborough Health's chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker said the source of the outbreak was not yet known.

There are two clusters, with 11 cases in one and three in the other.

The original source of infection for each cluster was still to be determined, through epidemiological investigations and a possible connection between the two was being investigated.

Since the first case was announced on Monday, 2982 tests have been administered at community testing stations, general practices and hospitals. Almost 1500 of those were administered yesterday.

It was a long wait for many to get tested, with some in the queue for four hours or more until they were seen.

There has also been a surge in the number of vaccines administered, with more than 7391 doses given out between Monday and Wednesday. The majority were booster shots (4457), while 1263 were first doses and 1671 were second doses.

There are now 23 different locations of interest across Nelson and Tasman listed on the Ministry of Health website, with six of the locations visited on more than one day.

An Emergency Operations Centre has been established to co-ordinate the response between public health, primary health organisations, the community and hospitals in the area.

Anyone who lives in Nelson or Tasman, or who has visited the regions since 19 November and has symptoms, is encouraged to get tested.

Locations of community-based testing stations

• Nelson: Trafalgar Centre carpark, Paru Paru Rd, Nelson
• Nelson: Saxton Field parking area, Suffolk Rd, Stoke
• Richmond: Richmond Showgrounds, 359 Lower Queen St
• Motueka: Motueka Recreation Centre, Old Wharf Rd