Talk about a timely reminder to guard against Covid-19.

The stats and numbers are there for all of us to see as we ride a fifth wave of infections, with the introduction of a new variant called JN.1.

We’re being told that wastewater testing and hospitalisations show Covid-19 infections have reached their highest levels in New Zealand since January 2023. Worried? Should be because the facts don’t lie. The latest Ministry of Health data shows weekly hospitalisations continue to number in the hundreds, with 324 people receiving care as at midnight Sunday.

It doesn’t say how many, if any of those cases, are in Intensive Care Units but those weekly hospitalisation numbers are worrying regardless.

And let’s not forget that those tracking new infections are relying simply on wastewater testing and hospitalisation figures. We know that won’t be totally accurate – and that case numbers are probably much worse – because self-isolation requirements have stopped, and people aren’t reporting infections as readily as they used to.

The bottom line is that we’re still getting up to 50 admissions a day of people sick enough to have to go to hospital.

Internationally, it’s following a similar pattern. In December, the World Health Organisation reported that there were about 10,000 Covid deaths for that month alone, while hospital admissions jumped more than 40% in nearly 50 countries.

Not surprisingly, the WHO has called on governments to keep up surveillance and provide continued access to treatments and vaccines.

In New Zealand, it will be interesting to see how that plays out. The Government has confirmed it’s reviewing whether face masks and rapid antigen tests (RATs) will be offered free beyond the end of February, when the funded policy was due to end. Let’s hope they don’t put commercial costs ahead of health. That surely would be a step backwards.

And high infection numbers in this part of the world especially – clearly fuelled by gatherings over the holiday period – are simply a very real reminder, if it was ever needed, that Covid still poses a risk to many members of our community.

It can still put you in hospital. It can still kill you.

Fortunately, the number of intensive care admissions and deaths linked to Covid-19 has not dramatically risen and some epidemiologists say there’s no evidence to show any new strains are any more deadly than the common flu.

Still, as hospital staff continue to work under demanding conditions, it remains important for all of us to do our bit by staying up to date with recommend vaccinations and to take the precautions we should all know.

Stay home if you’re unwell to protect the most vulnerable of patients.

It’s up to all of us to continue to do the right thing.

Covid is still around, and it isn’t going anywhere soon.

-Daryl Holden