November 02, 2021
Kāinga needs to be fortress from Covid
A Māori GP and health researcher says whānau Māori need to plan for when Covid comes home.
Matire Harwood says the decision to ease restrictions in Tāmaki Makaurau next week despite record high daily cases, the majority of them Māori, is a major concern.
She says not enough was done to ensure equity in vaccination rates, and Māori are still running 20 percent behind.
That’s why whānau need to make sure their homes are ready and vulnerable kaumātua and tamariki can be looked after.
“That sort of planning needs to happen as well on top of doing what we can in that public space in terms of physical distancing, wearing your mask, not touching your face or anywhere near your mouth unless your hands are clean, all these things need to be in place for us to be in the best position possible, Dr Harwood.
There were 126 new community cases of Covid-19 today, 107 in Auckland, 18 in Waikato and one in Northland.
Just half have so far been linked to other cases.