March 02, 2021
Blame game pointless as South Auckland struggles to contain virus
A South Auckland GP says there’s no point in playing the blame game about the current COVID-19 community outbreak in South Auckland.
There have been harsh comments about people who went to work or school when they should have been isolating, with even Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expressing her frustration at rule breakers.
But Rawiri Jansen from Māori pandemic response group Te Whakakaupapa Urutā says it’s a challenging and stressful time for families, and some of the messages have been confusing.
He’d prefer the PM talks about kindness rather than compliance.
"Our tikanga is really around manaakitanga and it creates obligations and expectations and do it well and we want to look after our whānau and our community and all of the people in our community, that's a message that resonates well and I think we have good evidence we have done it well. Getting a bit of a telling off, I reckon we've noticed a change there and I think we've got to get it back into the right place," Dr Jansen says.
He says families face real stress having to isolate and not going to work without knowing where they can get the income support to cover food and rent.
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