March 08, 2022
Kai running short as whānau isolate
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Papakura Marae is struggling to keep up with demand for help as Omicron sweeps through the community.
Chief Executive Tony Kake says the marae had been handing out about 600 $150 grocery packs a day.
He says a lot of large whānau have been forced to self-isolate because some or all their members have Covid, and requests for support have spiked.
“Kai is the main request. It’s heavy at the moment. We’re struggle and 18 of my staff are affected so we are having to redeply staff to the front line just to keep up with demand.” Mr Kake says.
The switch to rapid antigen testing means the marae can service whānau faster, with what had been a wait of up to three hours now down to 20 minutes last week.