Health officials across the region have urged people who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to get tested following a positive COVID-19 wastewater result in Napier.
Hawke’s Bay District Health Board Medical Officer of Health Dr Bridget Wilson said a wastewater sample carried out by ESR on 3 November had returned a positive result.
She said no known COVID-19 cases are isolating in the region, and the result could have been due to recently recovered cases returning to Hawke’s Bay who are still shedding the virus, but who are no longer infectious.
Increased testing was made available over the weekend, with Dr Wilson saying the important message was to get tested if feeling unwell with flu-like symptoms, or for those who had travelled to an Alert Level 3 region within the past 14 days.
Over the weekend 500 COVID tests were processed between Napier and Hastings.
The Hawke’s Bay DHB hadn’t responded by the time we went to air with testing numbers for CHB.
Those wanting a test in Central Hawke’s Bay should call their GP or the free Healthline on 0800 358 5453.
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Meanwhile Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker said additional wastewater testing in Wairoa and CHB by ESR had been requested as a priority.
The last wastewater test for COVID-19 in Central Hawke’s Bay was the 18th of September 2021.
Central Hawke’s Bay has since been removed from the ESR site listing test results from around the country.
In a question posed to the Central Hawke’s Bay District Council by Central FM late October as to why this was the case, a spokesperson said “ESR had pulled back the amount of testing across the country, focusing on the main centres only”.
They said this decision was being “revisited on a weekly basis, and testing may start again at any point should the need arise”.
The spokesperson said Council are “prepared to undertake additional testing if deemed appropriate by ESR”.
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The Central Hawke’s Bay District Council has closed both lanes of Kairakau Road following days of rain.
The road was closed yesterday at the 7.1km mark following what the Council said was “significant road movement” overnight Saturday and yesterday morning.
Detours are in place, with diversions along Mangakuri Road, Clareinch Road, Pourerere Road and River Road.
Council advised drivers using the detour route to be cautious as the roads are less-frequently used and were very wet.
A major roading upgrade is planned for the summer months to resolve the slump in the road, however Council said the very wet weather had caused movement much greater than seen to date.
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The Magpies will play defending champs the Tasman Makos in the semifinals of the Bunnings NPC Premiership.
The match will be played at McLean Park at 4.35pm on Saturday.
A Magpies win will mean the NPC title is decided the following weekend, also at McLean Park. Their opponent will be the winner of the other semi – between Canterbury and Waikato.
The Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union said tickets for this weekend’s game would go on-sale at 9am tomorrow from its website.
Meanwhile the Magpies had a win in a friendly game against Northland on Saturday, 25-16.
Our 2021 Magpies coverage is thanks to the Leopard Hotel in Waipukurau.
