AN EMAIL UPDATE FROM JOHN WHAANGA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL, MĀORI HEALTH DIRECTORATE:
August 29th 2021
Kia hora iho mai te manaakitanga o te Atua Matua ki runga i a tātou i roto i ngā tini kaupapa o te wā, tēnā rā tātou katoa.
I hope you’ve all found time with friends and whānau over the weekend to rest and recuperate. With a new week upon us, it’s important we start on the front-foot, rejuvenated and ready to continue in our fight against COVID-19.
Please continue to follow our tikanga hauora and alert level rules. The easiest thing you can do right now to support the COVID-19 response is stay home, unless leaving for essential reasons or exercise. All this goes a long way in helping us to locate the virus and stamp it out.
I want to mihi to everyone for the work you’ve done so far to get us to where we are right now. Heoi anō, there’s still more mahi to be done.
Nā reira, kia kaha tonu tātou, kia māia, kia manawanui.
Latest update on the outbreak
There are 83 new community cases in Aotearoa to confirm today. 82 are in Tāmaki Makaurau and one is in Pōneke who is a close contact of an existing case, and was in isolation.
This brings the total number of cases in the community outbreak to 511.
The total number of community cases in Tāmaki Makaurau is now 496 and in Pōneke it is 15.
All of the cases have or are being transferred safely to a quarantine facility, under strict infection prevention and control procedures, including the use of full PPE.
Over 104,000 Māori are now fully vaccinated
Yesterday 77,965 vaccines were administered to whānau throughout the motu. Of these 55,779 were first doses and 22,177 were second doses.
More than 3.28 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to date.
Of these, over 2.1 million are first doses and more than 1.14 million are second doses.
More than 194,133 Māori have received their first vaccination. Of these, more than 104,146 have also had their second vaccinations.
Please keep encouraging your friends and whānau to book in for their vaccine as soon as possible. It’s safe and it’s free.
A range of support is available for whānau in need
If you were watching the 1pm stand-up, you would have heard the Prime Minister speak to the support available for whānau in need. I thought it would be important to repeat that information in this pānui to ensure as many whānau as possible know about it.
There are a range of self-help tools and resources available on the Ministry of Health website that are useful in supporting mental wellbeing, including for young people who may be finding it particularly challenging.
Some examples include Small Steps, Whakatau Mai – The Wellbeing Sessions, Staying on Track, the MELON app and Mentemia. People are encouraged to call 1737 if they need to talk to someone about their mental wellbeing. This is a free service available via phone or text 24/7.
Family violence and sexual violence services continue to operate under Alert Level 4. If you feel you are in an unsafe environment, you do not need to stay in your home or bubble.
If you feel in danger, call 111. If it’s unsafe to talk, police have a silent solution – phone 111 and if you don’t speak, you get the option of pressing 55.
There is also support in place for those struggling to access kai. If you’re unable to afford food, please call MSD food 0800 559 009.
If you’re having problems accessing kai, reach out to whānau, friends, and neighbours to see if they’ll deliver food for you.
For those in self-isolation or with no other way to access food, the Student Volunteer Army has a grocery delivery service. To place an order visit www.shop.sva.org.nz or call 0800 005 902.
You are not alone; we are all in this together and support is just a phone call away. If you need help, please reach out.
Māori Health Providers leading the way in Te Tai Tokerau
Yesterday, I received an update on how Māori health providers are supporting the COVID-19 response and I wanted to share that good news with you.
Providers are continuing to work within their hapori using a range of different approaches to ensure whānau have access to vaccinations and testing.
These approaches utilise existing community spaces (car parks, sports grounds and outdoor spaces) so that physical distancing measures can be maintained. Examples include:
Drive-through clinics
Outdoor observation areas
Clinic at a sports ground
Partnerships between Māori health providers and GP clinics.
Soon to be initiated are mobile clinics going out to rural and remote communities.
This is outstanding, and I want to mihi to all our kaimahi hauora in Te Tai Tokerau for the important mahi they’ve been doing to keep our northern communities safe.
I’m keen to share more kōrero like this, so if you have any updates on hand, please get in touch with me and my team.
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Please remind your friends and whānau to get information on COVID-19 and the vaccine from our trusted sources – the Ministry of Health, Unite Against COVID, and Karawhiua channels.
For guidance on protecting yourself and your whānau from COVID-19 misinformation and scams, visit the Unite Against COVID website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or my team at: maorihealth@health.govt.nz