Life at RED: here's what you need to know and do
Tēnā koutou katoa, At 11am this morning the Prime Minister and Director General of Health announced that all of New Zealand was moving to RED because of community transmission of Omicron. We expected this. We know what to do. We are here to support you. General Practice is open for business (use our resources) but we need to consider increasing the number of virtual consultations again and encouraging those who can to have phone or video consultations. Our risk matrix has level RED covered and we'll be updating that during the week - and letting you know when we have. Email any COVID-19 questions you have to covid19@rnzcgp.org.nz and we will answer them. This is also a great way to learn what's important so we can update web content. A reminder about patient management under the traffic light system (opens to PDF). This is also linked from the homepage of the College's COVID-19 site. Resources on cleaning a clinic room from the Ministry of Health as well as our friends in Ireland. What to do if a clinic staff member is exposed to COVID-19. Practice layout and waiting room – what to do at RED. A reminder of red and green streaming (which you'll be doing now anyway). A reminder that RED does not mean lockdowns or regional boundaries and businesses will remain open. At red, the number of places that people will be required to wear face-coverings will increase, physical distancing rules will apply in hospitality and gathering sizes will be reduced in order to slow Omicron down. A word on PCR testing and alternatives The Ministry of Health tells us that the health system has the capacity to undertake 40,000 PCR tests a day without any strain. Rapid antigen tests will be used more widely. There are currently 4.6 million are in the country and millions ordered. With this number, the country can maintain these testing principles. The Government will provide more detail in the coming weeks