Two clusters of COVID-19 have now been identified in the south – the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown and a wedding at Bluff.

Latest figures show 25 cases have been traced back to the Hereford conference – five of them in the past 24 hours.

A wedding at Bluff is believed to link eight cases.

Meanwhile, 38 more staff at Lakes District Hospital are being tested for COVID-19 after a second nurse tested positive.

The nurse was one of 36 staff who were tested yesterday, and one of 15 ‘close contacts’ of the nurse whose positive test result was confirmed yesterday. All close contacts are required to remain in self-isolation, while the 21 casual contacts who were tested yesterday are now able to return to work.  

The additional tests mean all 74 staff who have worked at the facility over the past 14 days will be tested, as the Medical Officer of Health seeks to understand how the nurses became infected and rule out community transmission from within the workforce. 

The second nurse only had very mild symptoms and attended work for one shift while infectious. All close contacts, including four patients, are being followed up and asked to self-isolate.

The Lakes District Hospital will continue to operate its emergency department through the testing process. Its maternity unit, which has now been relocated to another building on the site, will also continue to operate.

Patients requiring hospital admission will be transferred to another facility in the district. Yesterday, the only two patients in Lakes Hospital were discharged home following the decision to undertake extensive cleaning of the hospital.

There are now more cases in the Southern District Health Board area than any other region – 97 confirmed and one probable. There were nine new reported cases yesterday and six today.