SARS-CoV-2 testing has been very active in the Waikato over the past 2 weeks, after a new cluster was found in Auckland and some cases had already travelled to the Waikato. However, several thousand people in the community have since been tested and the only positives are those with known close contact to the those travellers. This gives a high level of reassurance that the virus is not circulating in the Waikato region at present. Occasional positives are also being found in those coming back to New Zealand and screened in our managed isolation facilities.
It is now apparent that border controls and Level 1 and 2 precautions are sufficient to exclude both Influenza and RSV, with resulting health benefits for our community. SARS-CoV-2 is more difficult to control.
Waikato Respiratory Virus Report 2020 08 24
