AN EMAIL UPDATE FROM JOHN WHAANGA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL, MĀORI HEALTH DIRECTORATE:
September 6, 2021
Kia rere arorangi aku whakamānawa ki te tītoko o te rangi, kia hora iho mai āna manaakitanga ki runga i a tātou katoa e noho nei, tēnā koutou katoa.
This afternoon, the Prime Minister announced Cabinet’s decision on the Alert Level settings for all regions outside of Tāmaki Makaurau. As of midnight tomorrow, all of Aotearoa outside of Tāmaki Makaurau will move to Alert Level 2. Tāmaki Makaurau however will stay at Alert Level 4 for another week. Cabinet will review the settings for the entire country next Monday and will announce those settings on the same day. I’ll be sure to share whatever’s announced through this pānui.
The ability to keep on moving down Alert Levels across Aotearoa is a testament to our good work and what we’ve been able to achieve by once again going “hard and fast”. Heoi anô, we’re not yet out of the woods so we must stay vigilant, or we’ll lose our gains from the past three weeks. I know it hasn’t been easy, particularly for our whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau, but I want to encourage you all to keep up the good mahi. Testing, vaccinating, and following public health measures have been critical in giving us the confidence to shift in Alert Levels. Nā reira, kia kaha tonu tātou.
Before we get into the Alert Level settings and what they mean for you and your whānau, a brief reminder to share manaakitanga and aroha with all people, ahakoa nō hea. Following last week’s terror attack, I’ve heard word of our Muslim community facing increased discrimination and racism. This is not okay. We should all be doing our part to ensure all New Zealanders feel safe and welcome in our country. Tukua te aroha kia rere, be kind and give nothing to racism.
For whānau outside of Tāmaki Makaurau – Alert Level 2
We know Delta has presented new challenges for our COVID-19 response. It’s twice as infectious as the COVID we faced last year so we’ve had to adapt to make sure our response is still fit for purpose, able to keep our whānau safe. This means Alert Level 2 will be different to what we’ve experienced so far. What we’re now entering is a ‘Delta Level 2’.
Firstly, face coverings are mandatory when inside public facing venues. You can however remove your face covering to eat and drink at hospitality venues. This will have a significant impact on preventing transmission.
Secondly, everyone aged 12 and over must keep a record of where they have been when visiting certain places. This is so contact tracing can happen quickly. You can do this by using the NZ COVID Tracer app or by keeping your own record. No matter how you do it, just make sure you keep track of where you go, when you go there, and who you see.
At Alert Level 2, you can also hold social gatherings for weddings, civil union ceremonies, birthdays, and tangihanga, but they are limited to 50 people for indoor venues and 100 people for outdoor venues.
Indoor facilities, like gyms and libraries, must now ensure physical distancing of at least two metres is kept at all times. This brings these venues into alignment with current rules for other public venues like retail stores and supermarkets.
Lastly, unchanged Alert Level 2 settings remain. There are no restrictions on who can be included in your household bubble. You can go to mahi, and all businesses and services can open but legally must follow public health rules. Ka mutu, early learning services, schools, kura and tertiary education facilities are open to everyone.
So, in summary, wear face coverings, keep up record keeping, be kind, and stay safe. If you’re māuiui, please stay home.
You can read more about Alert Level 2 on the Unite Against COVID website, but if you have any pātai that can’t be answered through the online guidance, please get in touch with me or my team.
A further 20 new community cases in Aotearoa
There are 20 new cases of COVID-19 in the community to announce today. All of these are in Tāmaki Makaurau.
This brings the total number of community cases in this outbreak to 821, with 804 in Tāmaki Makaurau and 17 in Pōneke.
Of these, 117 people have recovered, giving us an active total of 704 cases.
The total number of unliked community cases as of 9am this morning was 33. This is a small increase from yesterday’s numbers, but we’re confident these numbers will continue to fall.
Currently, there are 40 cases in hospital across the Tāmaki Makaurau hospital network. This is an increase of two from yesterday’s update. Of these, six are in an ICU or in a High Dependency Unit.
Today’s numbers show we’re making progress, but we still have some way to go. I’ll keep you posted on the daily numbers as we continue with our COVID-19 response.
Testing rates need to increase across the motu
Yesterday, there were 4750 swabs processed around the country. This is the lowest testing day since the start of the community outbreak.
The fall in test numbers is partly due to less people having COVID-19 symptoms across the motu. This is expected given the reduction of viruses (like the cold and flu) spreading through our communities while we’re in lock-down.
Heoi anō, our most important message today is if you have any symptoms, you must get tested wherever you are in Aotearoa. Please call Healthline or your health provider if this is you and they’ll provide advice on getting tested.
Over the next week, our goal is to improve our confidence that there is no undetected community transmission in Tāmaki Makaurau and no leakages out of the city to other parts of the country. You can help give us that confidence by getting tested.
You can also help by reviewing the 126 locations of interest on the Ministry of Health website. If you’ve been at a location of interest during the relevant time, you can record your visit online or call Healthline on 0800 358 5453. If you record your visit online, you do not need to call Healthline - our contact tracers will call or email you.
If you were not at the location of interest at the relevant time, you do not need to be tested or register your visit.
Update on the COVID-19 vaccination rollout
The COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues with more than 38,710 vaccinations administered yesterday. Of these 26,738 were first doses and 11,972 were second doses.
To date, more than 3.89 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of these, over 2.56 million are first doses and more than 1.32 million are second doses.
For the Māori roll-out, more than 232,577 Mâori have received their first vaccination and over 116,490 have also had their second vaccinations.
This is the lowest number of daily vaccinations we’ve had in a while, so it’s critical we continue to encourage our friends and whānau (aged 12 and over) to book in for their vaccinations as soon as possible. They can do this online or by calling 0800 28 29 26.
It’s also important we continue to have brave conversations with our whānau about the seriousness of COVID-19 and the protections offered to us through vaccination. You can do so by sharing stories of our history with disease, validating feelings of fear and anxiety, and giving them guidance on how to recognise misinformation, disinformation, and scams. You can find resources for this on the Unite Against COVID website.
Please also remind your friends and whānau to get information on COVID-19 and the vaccine from our trusted sources – the Ministry of Health website, Unite Against COVID channels, Karawhiua channels, and the Te Puni Kōkiri ‘COVID-19 Information for Māori’ portal.
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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