COVID-19 Update 18 March 2020
Kia ora e te whanau o Ngāti Rārua
Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rārua has been working through our responsibilities as an organisation to ensure we do our best to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 for whanau o Ngāti Rārua.
These are unprecedented times and we need to take on board the information and guidelines from our Health professionals.
Current plan
Our priority is to be prepared by following Ministry of Health (MoH) Guidelines on the health, safety and wellbeing of our whanau, with a focus on our most vulnerable.
This is a serious evolving situation and we need to take preventative action and have instigated a process of welfare calls that will be made to all of our over 70s that we have contact details for. If you have whanau that are over 70 years of age and they don’t receive a phone call or email from us, please let us know so that we can update our records and enable welfare checks for them.
As staff we will also be following the MoH guidelines, we will be using video conferencing facilities and technology as much as possible to avoid unnecessary travel and we continue to operate.
The over-arching message is to protect yourself and others by following the MoH guidelines which are:
- Do not go to work or school if you feel unwell or are showing ‘flu’ like symptoms – please stay home.
- Cough or sneeze into your elbow or by covering your mouth and nose with tissues
- Put used tissues in the bin or a bag immediately
- Wash your hands with soap and water often (for at least 20 seconds)
- Try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
- Don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean
- Avoid personal contact, such as kissing, sharing cups or food with sick people
· Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and objects, such as doorknobs.
· Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 if you have any symptoms
Supporting Vulnerable Members of the Whanau
- In the event that a whanau member is required to self-isolate or is particularly vulnerable in this situation (e.g. underlying health issue, compromised immune system), please check in with them to ensure they have the supplies and support they need.
- Please contact the office at 03 577 8468 or admin@ngatirarua.co.nz if you have any concerns or questions.
Social Distancing / Physical Contact / Hongi
- Physical contact has been identified by the MoH as having the potential to increase the risk of spreading COVID-19, as such they recommend any unnecessary contact should be avoided if possible take a Social Distancing approach, MoH recommendations and common sense should be followed including self-isolation.
· Hongi is at the discretion of the individual to receive or not in any capacity, respecting personal Rangatiratanga is important.
· Hui – numerous hui are being cancelled or postponed and following the advice from the MoH, this may affect sport, we will keep a watching brief and keep information available as it comes to hand.
Please take care of yourselves and each other.
Ngā manaakitanga ki runga i a koutou
Paimaarire
