We are in the middle of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, and I hope you’re all taking the opportunity to kōrero i te reo Māori and share it with your friends and whānau. I’ve appreciated hearing more reo Māori on my Zoom calls and seeing my colleagues at the Ministry engage in reo Mâori activities with one another.

As I said yesterday, te reo Māori can be rongoā for the wairua, so as we continue with this outbreak and respond to its challenges, I encourage you to immerse yourself in te reo rangatira and in doing so, find relief and energy.

Heoi anō, I want to thank you all for the mahi you’ve been doing over the past month. I know this latest outbreak has caused considerable stress and anxiety for our whānau and our kaimahi hauora, but you’ve all pushed through. Nā reira, thank you for upholding our tikanga hauora, for following our Alert Level rules, and for working around the clock to keep our people safe.

14 new community cases in Aotearoa

There are 14 new cases of COVID-19 in the community today. All of these are in the Tāmaki Makaurau region. This brings the total number of community cases associated with this outbreak to 983, with 966 in Tāmaki Makaurau and 17 in Pōneke.

Of these cases, 456 are now deemed to have recovered, giving us an active total of 527.

Much like yesterday, all of today’s new cases are already linked to existing cases.

Today’s numbers are encouraging because they give us reassurance that our COVID-19 response is working, and it’s saving lives.

An analysis of yesterday’s cases showed that only three were infectious in the community, creating ten exposure events. However, these were all largely essential businesses such as petrol stations and dairies – all places we’d expect people to be going in Alert Level 4.

The total number of cases that currently remain unlinked is 36. We will keep working with our public health units to investigate any unlinked cases and as this mahi continues, the total number of unlinked cases is expected to fall.

On contact tracing, we now have 996 active contacts being managed by our team in Pōneke and public health units across the motu. Of those, 93% have had direct contact and 91% have returned at least one test. Continued follow up happens with these people to ensure they get their later tests as well.

Testing in Tāmaki Makaurau is our priority this week

Testing in Tāmaki Makaurau is a core part of our response this week. We want to find cases and testing provides confidence for understanding the extent of any spread of COVID-19.

We saw an increase in testing across Tāmaki Makaurau yesterday with 10,341 tests processed. A big mihi to all our whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau who have turned out to get tested this week, particularly those who live in the suburbs of interest listed yesterday.

I also want to thank everyone else across the motu for being tested, a total of 15,105 tests were processed yesterday.

In terms of the Tāmaki Makaurau boundary, later this week, police will begin checking if people who are permitted to cross the boundary have evidence that they’ve been tested in the last seven days. Anyone who needs to get a test can go to any community testing centre, a GP, or urgent care clinics.

Ahakoa kei hea koe i te motu, no matter where you are in the country, if you have any COVID-19 symptoms

https://www.health.govt.nz/.../covid-19.../about-covid-19

please call Healthline or your GP and ask about getting a test.

Update on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out

Yesterday, 62,155 vaccines were administered across Aotearoa. This is an increase of around 8,000 doses from the day before, which is encouraging to see.

Of these latest vaccinations, 39,437 were first doses and 22,718 were second doses. This means more than 70% of eligible New Zealanders have received one dose, and 36% have received their second and therefore fully vaccinated.

However, as Minister Hipkins said at today’s stand-up, some challenges sit under those numbers. For the Māori roll-out, 48% of Māori have had one dose, and only 23% have had their second.

Please help by continuing to encourage your friends and whānau (aged 12 and over) to book in for their vaccinations as soon as possible. It’s safe and it’s free. They can do this online

https://bookmyvaccine.covid19.health.nz

or by calling 0800 28 29 26.

Ka mutu, please keep having courageous conversations with friends, whānau, and colleagues about the importance of vaccinations. There have been claims on social media recently that natural immunity or Vitamin C are sufficient to fight COVID-19. As you know, this is untrue. COVID-19 is an infectious virus that can cause serious and ongoing health problems. If you see kōrero like that online, or if you hear it while talking to others, please remind them of the seriousness of this virus, and of the protection vaccinations can provide us.

New reo Māori video from IMAC shows how vaccines work

As part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, IMAC have shared

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncfmxGZz_5s

a short video in te reo Māori answering the most common pātai we hear about the COVID-19 vaccine: How does it work?

This information can help inform whānau and alleviate them of any anxieties they have towards the vaccine. What’s even better is that this entire video is in te reo Māori.

I encourage to share this with your networks, hei whakanui i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, to celebrate Māori Language Week, hei whakamōhio atu hoki i mahi a te rongoā āraimate nei, and to let people know how the COVID-19 vaccine works.

Please 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.

For guidance on protecting yourself and your whānau from COVID-19 misinformation and scams, please visit the Unite Against COVID website.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or my team at maorihealth@health.govt.nz

Mā te Atua tātou e manaaki i roto i ngā āhuatanga o te wā,

Nāhaku me aku mihi aroha,

Nā