Covid 19 coronavirus: Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi to end checkpoints

Community-led checkpoints along State Highway 35 initiated by Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi Te Whānau ā Apanui will be lifted on Wednesday with a karakia.

The "community safety zones" were implemented on the east coast of the North Island on March 25 to protect the rural community from the spread of Covid-19.

Ōpōtiki Mayor, Lyn Riesterer, said the collaborative approach had demonstrated its success and relationships across agencies and leadership were stronger.

Te Whānau ā Apanui iwi's Covid-19 community checkpoints end this week. Photo / File

"The agencies working closely together over the last couple of months has really cemented for me the importance of collaboration and whanaungatanga – that connection when you really understand what we are all working towards."

"All the voices around the table have had the same end goal in mind – the wellbeing of a remote and vulnerable community."

Riesterer said the community had suffered "disproportionally" through previous epidemics and illness.

"And the feedback I have had from locals and visitors about the community protection zones has been largely really positive and that is something that I am proud of."

Iwi leader, Rikirangi Gage, said restricting movement through the rohe had provided "additional security" during the early phases of uncertainty about the pandemic.

"In light of the national success at restricting Covid-19, Te Whānau ā Apanui would be matching the national guidelines from Wednesday," Gage said.

"We have been watching the national picture unfold very closely over the past weeks.

"We are now confident that we can lower our community-led alert levels to match central government levels from Wednesday and our traffic stops at Pōtaka and Hāwai will close.

"I can't thank the volunteers enough – they have manned that check-points night and day for many weeks and spoken to dozens of people passing through our rohe.

"Most traffic passed through after a short chat as they knew where they could stop, what facilities would be open and the risks they brought with them.

"There have been very few turned away as generally our kaupapa has been widely respected and I'd like to thank the public for their support through this process."

Gage said that the rāhui was part of a "bigger kaupapa" that would continue.

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He said work was still under way to ensure the community had flu shots, sufficient food, and medical assistance and clear guidelines of what the national levels meant for local tikanga, including tangihanga and family gatherings at marae.

Eastern Bay of Plenty police provided support to Te Whānau ā Apanui in the establishment of the community safety zone checkpoints along State Highway 35.

Acting area commander Stuart Nightingale said the initiative provided extra protection to a remote and vulnerable community during a very uncertain international pandemic.

"They have been well-led with support of police locally and nationally and the feedback has been extremely positive. They have clearly achieved what they set out to do.

"Community policing means working in partnership and building solutions to problems in conjunction with the communities we serve.

"I don't want Te Whānau ā Apanui to feel abandoned as we move down the national alert levels, and I am also confident that the relationships we have built through the Covid-19 response will continue into the future," Nightingale said.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

Covid-19 in NZ — 18th December

2110

10

new

Total confirmed and probable cases

51

⬆︎8

Active cases

0

In Hospital

0

In ICU

2034

⬆︎2

Recovered

25

Deaths

427

⬆︎10

Border cases

Last updated: Fri 18th December at 12:17 am

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