Visitor numbers and hours are being restricted at Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) facilities following the move to alert level 2 amid a resurgence in community coronavirus cases in Auckland.

CDHB chief medical officer Dr Sue Nightingale announced the changes on Friday morning.

The key changes were on visitor numbers, hours and the usage of face masks at CDHB hospitals and health centres.

She encouraged anyone entering a CDHB facility to keep a record of when and where they visited through the NZ Covid Tracer App.

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At Christchurch Hospital, visiting hours had been shortened to between 3pm and 8pm. Only one visitor was allowed in adult areas at one time, one support person was allowed in outpatient areas and two parents or caregivers were allowed in child health areas.

At Burwood Hospital, visiting hours remained between 11am and 7pm. Two visitors were allowed to visit an inpatient at a time. Those attending an outpatient appointment were allowed one support person with them.

However, nurse managers were allowed to make exceptions on compassionate grounds.

There were no changes to visiting at Christchurch Women’s Hospital, Rangiora Health Hub Maternity, Lincoln Maternity and Ashburton Maternity.

Under alert level 2, women in labour were allowed two support people for the duration of their labour and birth.

For the duration of their postnatal stay, a woman can have one named support person from their bubble, who can visit once a day for any length of time from 10am to 8pm, but they will be required to sign in at reception.

Visiting was not permitted at any Aged Residential Care Facilities operated by the CDHB as all rest homes were put under lockdown conditions on Wednesday. This includes; Tuarangi Home in Ashburton, along with facilities in Kaikōura, Ellesmere, Oxford, Darfield and Waikari.

Dr Nightingale encouraged all visitors to wear a mask when visiting any CDHB facilities.

“It can be a fabric mask or scarf but must cover your nose and mouth,” she said.

Anyone with Covid-19 symptoms (any acute respiratory infection with at least one of the following symptoms: new or worsening cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, stuffy or runny nose, lost sense of smell – with or without a fever) should contact their General Practice team or call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.

People with symptoms who were not registered with a GP team could attend the pop-up testing centre run by Whānau Ora at 250 Pages Rd in Aranui between 9am to 1pm or at 170 Orchard Rd in Harewood. No referral was necessary.

Full details can be found on the CDHB website.