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Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Covid 19 Coronavirus lockdown taken too lightly: Health advocates

Sandra Conchie
By Sandra Conchie
Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·
30 Mar, 2020 08:05 PM4 mins to read

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      A timeline of Covid-19 as the number of confirmed cases increases around the world.

      Some people are still not getting the Covid-19 coronavirus lockdown message, including young and older people, and their attitude must change.

      That's the plea from health officials and Bay of Plenty advocacy groups to the wider community who are urging people to "get with the programme".

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      Age Concern Tauranga general manager Tanya Smith said she feared people, including some older residents, were not treating the self-isolation rules seriously enough.

      TO READ THE HERALD'S FULL CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE CLICK HERE
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      Smith said reports that some people, especially young people, were visiting parks or driving outside of their local area were also concerning.

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      "Some people are clearly treating the lockdown far too lightly, and in doing so they are putting not only our vulnerable older citizens but our whole community at risk.

      "To really nip this in the bud we need everyone to get onboard the lockdown programme.

      "If we don't, the risk of catching the virus or passing it on is only going to get far greater."

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      Age Concern Tauranga general manager Tanya Smith. Photo / File
      Age Concern Tauranga general manager Tanya Smith. Photo / File

      Smith said her other major concern was seniors who were still not connecting with the people in their neighbourhoods.

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      "My greatest fear is someone will have a fall or become very unwell and no one will know about for days or possibly weeks."

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      She said she was in discussions with the Salvation Army and Foodtown to see what could be done to assist those who are not connected to mobile phones or to the internet.

      Police confirmed yesterday they had caught people flouting the rules, including some driving further they should be, with at least three arrests nationally.

      COVID-19 UPDATE
      GLOBAL STATUS
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      New Zealand cases
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      Last updated: Fri 18th December at 12:17 am
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      Rotorua Age Concern spokesman Rory O'Rourke said he was not aware of any issues in terms of older residents heeding the lockdown and keeping within their safety bubble.

      "It'd been nice to see people out biking and walking respecting the two-metre distance rule but unfortunately not everyone is treating the lockdown as seriously as the rest of us."

      NeedToKnow3
      NeedToKnow3

      O'Rourke said a telephone tree had been set up and arrangements had been made to help clients who needed it to buy their groceries via online shopping.

      Grey Power Tauranga and Western Bay president Jennifer Custins although said she had not heard of older people flouting the lockdown rules.

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      "But I'm quite sure some people are still not 100 per cent clear about what they can and cannot do and also what the self-isolation and social distancing rules mean in real terms."

      Custins said she would like to see some local superettes tighten up their customer entry restrictions.

      Grey Power Rotorua manager Miriam Ruberl said older people who went through wartime experience took on board the lockdown messages.

      "But there will always be people who don't like to be told what they can or cannot do, while others are clearly not treating the lockdown with the gravity it deserves," she said.

      "Whether we become a victim of the virus is very much a time-critical situation and staying in isolation at home as ordered to do is very important," she said.

      "I don't care, even when the lockdown is lifted, if I end up with 10 years supply of hand sanitiser. It's not about the risk of getting the virus but the risk of passing it on to others."

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

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