VISITING HOSPITAL

All hospital visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask. Expand this message for information about visiting hospital. 

Last updated:
31 October 2024

Some visitor restrictions for all Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waitaha Canterbury hospitals and health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and we encourage all people wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and visitors safe.

To keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people are advised to not visit our facilities if they are unwell. We advise that you do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients may have more than one visitor, except in some situations such as multi-bed rooms where it can cause overcrowding.
  • Surgical/medical masks are encouraged to be worn at all sites. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Please practice hand hygiene with provided alcohol-based hand rub/gel

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People can visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear a surgical mask as a minimum – please use surgical masks provided.

All of our Hospitals

Visiting hours for our hospitals have returned to pre COVID-19 hours.

All visitors are encouraged to wear a medical face mask.

Parents/caregivers can be with their child in hospital and visitors are now allowed, except for the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Day stay where visitor restrictions might apply.

Patients and visitors can also read the additional COVID-19 related visiting guidelines .

Avoiding a Legionnaires’ Spring Spike

Thursday 4 October 2018Public Health Alert3 minutes to read

THIS IS AN ARCHIVED PAGE. The advice and information contained in this page may not be current and it should only be used for historical reference purposes.

Avoiding a Legionnaires’ Spring Spike

Canterbury’s gardeners are being urged to take care with potting mix and compost to avoid repeating the spike in Legionnaires’ cases that occurred in spring 2017.

Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Dr Alistair Humphrey says 24 Cantabrians were diagnosed with Legionnaires’ last November, the highest monthly number ever recorded.

He is warning gardeners to take care with bagged potting mix and compost to avoid the life-threatening disease.

“Gardeners are at particularly high risk of catching Legionnaires' disease as the bacteria thrives in bags of potting mix and compost,” says Dr Humphrey.

With an incubation period of up to two weeks, it’s possible that up to fifteen cases may have occurred during Labour weekend last year, Canterbury’s traditional start to the gardening season.

Dr Humphrey says there are five simple actions gardeners should do to avoid getting legionnaires’:

  1. Open potting mix or compost carefully – use scissors instead of ripping the bag.
  2. Wear a well-fitting disposable face mask and gloves, and remember not to touch your mask when gardening.
  3. Reduce dust by dampening down potting mix or compost with a sprinkle of water.
  4. Work with potting mix or compost in a well-ventilated outdoor area.
  5. Thoroughly wash your hands after handling potting mix or compost.

“Legionnaires’ is a very serious illness and these simple actions can be lifesaving.”

Last year 62 Cantabrians were hospitalised with Legionnaires’. Thirteen of these patients spent extended periods of time in ICU, including one patient who was in ICU for 42 days.

With the average cost of treating someone with an infectious disease in ICU estimated at close to $5,000 per day, Dr Humphrey says Legionnaires’ is costing our health system hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“The number of cases last spring was around three times more than average. We don’t know why the bacteria was particularly virulent then, but one theory is that the warmer than usual spring led to potting mix and compost heating up in the bag more than usual, creating a perfectly warm and moist environment for the bacteria to thrive.”

“With NIWA predicting another warm spring and summer, it’s extremely important to take care when using bagged potting mix and compost.”

The illness may be mild but can sometimes be fatal. It is more common in older people, particularly if they smoke, have poor immunity or a chronic illness. Symptoms include dry coughing, high fever, chills, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, chest pains, headaches, excessive sweating, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Anyone who gets these symptoms should see their general practice team right away and let them know if you have been handling potting mix or compost.

For more information on Legionnaires’, visit: https://www.healthinfo.org.nz/Legionnaires-disease-legionellosis.htm

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Page last updated: 17 February 2022

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