Knowledge key to banishing virus
Two new Covid-19 cases in Taranaki have revealed just how little is known about the virus and sparked fresh calls for increased testing in the region.
Until the weekend Taranaki was leading the way in the fight against coronavirus, having gone 24 days without a new case and seeing 12 of its 14 patients recovered.
But on Sunday, in what was described as an ‘‘unusual’’ situation, a 50-year-old woman was announced as a positive case, after returning from overseas travel in mid-March and living symptomfree for about six weeks – much longer than the 14-day estimated incubation period.
Then on Monday a probable case was announced – that of a
58-year-old woman who had tested negative but had symptoms and close contact with her husband who had earlier tested positive after returning from overseas travel in March.
The long weekend’s cases took the region to 16 – two probable and
14 confirmed. As of yesterday 14 of these had recovered.
Nationally the number of cases rose to 1474 yesterday – 1126 confirmed and 348 probable. The death toll remains at 19.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles, Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Auckland, said a lot of unknowns still remained about the virus but gaining knowledge was the key to beating it.
‘‘We know a lot more about it than we did a few months ago but there is still much more to learn,’’ Wiles said.
People could test negative when
The long weekend’s cases took the region to 16 – two probable and 14 confirmed. As of yesterday 14 of these had recovered.
they were positive and a positive test could be returned if a person had had the virus but was no longer infectious, she said.
‘‘There could certainly be people who had it and didn’t know it, but they are not infectious now. Once the antibody tests are reliable we’ll be able to find out just how many.’’
Wiles said initially it was believed people were infectious only when they had symptoms but it’s now been established they are infectious for about two days before developing symptoms, making it likely people in communities could be spreading the virus without realising.
‘‘This is why it is really important people quickly contact their GP or healthline to go get tested rather than wait a few days. They quicker they are diagnosed, the quicker the contact tracing can start and the chains of transmission can be broken.’’
Increased testing and further experiments would provide better insight in how it could be controlled and potentially eliminated but that would take time, she said.
‘‘For us the next few weeks are crucial, just to ensure that we don’t have any hidden pockets of virus out in the community.
‘‘Once all our cases here have recovered and there has been no more spread, then we have to ensure it doesn’t come back again.’’
And Kaiarataki for Te Ru¯ nanga o Nga¯ ti and Ma¯ ori Party co-leader Ruanui Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is backing the call for more testing.
‘‘I didn’t believe that there had been enough testing before these cases came up and I still don’t think there’s enough testing.
‘‘While we’re learning more we should be testing more.
‘‘I don’t want to be alarmist and say there is a whole bunch of cases out there but how would we know if we’ve hardly scratched the surface?’’
Testing in the region has ramped up in the past two weeks. There are now four dedicated clinics and the health board has run pop-up clinics alongside other health providers.
Between March 1 and April 16, just 20.5 tests were being carried out a day, the Taranaki District Health Board said.
But since April 16 testing had jumped from a total of 964 to 2413 tests as of April 28 – more than 120 a day.
The Taranaki District Health Board medical officer of health, Dr Jonathan Jarman, said the more testing done the more confidence they could have there was no community transmission and anyone with event the mildest symptoms should be tested.