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The 2020 Canterbury-North Otago share farmers of the year Ralph and Fleur Tompsett are equity partners in an Eiffelton dairy farm milking 1130 cows. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Four Covid-19 cases in Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury GPs understand there are four cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the district. However, none are thought to be new cases, and whether community transmission is under way here is unknown. Getting data specifically for the district is difficult, with the Ministry of Health only providing a regional breakdown. There are now 589 cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, announced yesterday, up by 75 cases from the 24 hours previous. Forty-nine of these are in the expansive Canterbury District Health Board region, with Auckland (91), Southern (83), Waitemata (78), Waikato (76), Capital and Coast (57) having higher numbers.
There are 12 people in hospitals spread throughout the country, but none are in Christchurch Hospital. Director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said in his daily media update yesterday that about 10 of all the cases in the country were known to be from community transmission. The remainder were linked to overseas travel or confirmed cases. Ashburton GP spokesperson Emma Andrew said the district was going well, and she was not aware of any new cases. “And for privacy reasons the Ministry is now being careful about releasing any positive case details even to us,” she said. “Apparently four cases are in the Mid Canterbury district, I know no further
detail than that.” The Guardian has previously been aware of just one case in Mid Canterbury, in a man aged in his 50s, who is part of the cluster of 19 confirmed and probable cases from the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown this month. Mid Canterbury has two testing stations for Covid-19 – one at an isolation unit at the Methven Medical Centre, and the Community Based Assessment Clinic (CBAC) based at Ashburton Hospital. Only patients referred by their GP are seen.
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