Covid toll surpasses 100

Southland and Otago have reached the sobering milestone of 100 deaths among people with Covid-19.

The Ministry of Health has announced 101 deaths in the Southern DHB catchment – 99 died within 28 days of a Covid-19 diagnosis and the virus was also found to be the underlying cause of death for two people who died after the 28-day period.

Infection rates remain relatively high in the south.

Awarua Whā nau Services nurse Asha Clements, who manages the drivethrough testing and vaccination clinic in Invercargill, said people had begun downplaying the virus as ‘‘just a cold’’.

But they were still getting tested, she said, especially now that there was lots of influenza in the community.

‘‘Rats [testing] are ramping up down here. People are getting a sore throat, runny nose, feeling average and absolutely convinced they have Covid,’’ Clements said.

The clinic was also doing about 25 PCR tests a day, she said.

While people weren’t as scared of the virus as they had been at the start of the pandemic, there was still fear in the community.

She was sad to hear that Southern had recorded more than 100 deaths since April 2020.

‘‘That’s people’s whānau, people’s friends. They have prematurely passed away because they have caught Covid and that makes my heart hurt.’’

The ministry reported 426 new community cases of Covid-19 in Southland and Otago yesterday, along with 19 hospitalisations and one death.

Of the 101 deaths recorded in the district, 42 were Southlanders and 59 were from Otago.

Each death is investigated to determine whether Covid-19 was the underlying cause or a contributing factor; and of the 92 classified to date, the virus was considered the main cause in 69 cases.

Of the 99 deaths that occurred within 28 days of a diagnosis, 33 were in people in their 80s, 27 were in their 70s and 24 were in their 90s.