With some hospital emergency departments seeing up to 50 per cent less patients as the Covid-19 lockdown continues, District Health Boards (DHBs) are urging the public not to delay seeking emergency treatment.
Dr Dale Bramley, Waitemata DHB chief executive and Northern Region Covid-19 response lead, said people should come to hospital emergency departments if they have real health emergencies.
“We are here to provide emergency care for everyone in need with our EDs remaining open throughout the lockdown period,” he said.
“The sooner we are able to intervene, the better your health outcome will usually be.”
Emergency medicine specialist Dr Vanessa Thornton said people shouldn’t worry about being exposed to Covid-19 when at emergency departments.
“We will be screening patients to ensure that people who have high risk for coronavirus are not mixing with the patients who have business-as-usual emergencies.”
She said people should seek help for minor conditions through their GP or private medical centres.
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