Visitor numbers rise as alert level drops
The Taranaki District Health Board is reminding anyone hoping to visit patients in the region’s hospitals that restrictions still apply.
The warning follows a surge of people trying to visit patients after the country moved to an orange Covid-19 alert setting on Thursday last week.
‘‘We always knew that when things changed people would automatically think things are back to normal,’’ Taranaki DHB chief operations officer Gillian Campbell said.
‘‘But we still have to maintain patient safety, that’s our priority.’’
While alert levels had changed, the Taranakli DHB’s visitor policy had not, meaning patients were still only allowed a single visitor at a time during set hours.
Patients attending appointments were also allowed just one support person while there were no visitors under 12 years old allowed unless by prior arrangement.
Security guards were still stationed at all public entrances and anyone wanting to enter the hospital had to have a negative Covid-19 test.
Additional restrictions might also apply in high-risk areas.
‘‘We are reviewing the policy regularly, but because Taranaki was later than some areas to reach its Covid peak, we have to be more cautious at this point,’’ Campbell said.
While most visitors were adhering to the restrictions, Campbell said staff had reported challenges with some people’s behaviour. She acknowledged it was difficult when people were trying to visit patients who were in the last stages of life, but they had to consider the overall safety of all patients.
Meanwhile, there were 248 new cases of Covid-19 reported in Taranaki on Friday.
Eleven people were in Taranaki Base Hospital with Covid19, one of whom was in the intensive care unit.
With the country moving to the orange traffic light setting, the Taranaki DHB is now moving to reporting a weekly summary of case numbers, hospital admissions and vaccination data, starting tomorrow.
‘‘We always knew that when things changed people would automatically think things are back to normal. But we still have to maintain patient safety, that’s our priority.’’
Gillian Campbell
Taranaki DHB chief operations officer