Otorohanga turns out for testing
places of interest released at this stage . . . people are still waiting I guess to see where those are,’’ he said.
At 4pm Sunday, two locations of interest in the town were released: McDonald’s Otorohanga and, on five occasions, Otorohanga Mini Mart.
A staff member at the Mini Mart, who did not wish to be named, said the Covid case was ‘‘just a casual contact, and all of our staff have been fully vaccinated’’.
They said no staff members had shown any Covid symptoms, and they would all be getting tested today.
The two Otorohanga cases are Waikato’s southernmost in recent times.
A previous case was confirmed in Kawhia, also in the Otorohanga district, on October 6. Waikato’s Delta community outbreak totals 87 cases, with 52 classified as active cases.
University of Otago infectious diseases physician professor Kurt Krause said the appearance of Covid across Waikato over the weekend is unsurprising.
‘‘It’s very much consistent with the Delta variant. It has an R value [the number of people an infected person will spread the virus to] close to 5, one case in the community, and five other people out there who will spring up,’’ Krause said.
Although Waikato is at risk of ‘‘the kind of threat we saw in Auckland’’, Delta’s spread so far has not been too rapid, he said. It’s too early to speculate on the region’s chances of moving out of alert level 3 restrictions ahead of Christmas.
Resident Dean Millar joined yesterday’s testing queue at the Otorohanga Sports Club, unsurprised Covid has resurfaced in the district.
‘‘You only have to look at the number of people who travel from Te Awamutu to Otorohanga each week to do their shopping. It was bound to happen at some point.’’
Millar’s partner and her daughter are both unvaccinated. Getting tested and vaccinated helps keep them safe, he said.
‘‘I suppose a lot of people who get vaccinated do so because, like me, they’re trying to keep other people safe.’’