A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.
Opinion
Like others, I am seriously concerned about the relatively poor levels of Covid-19 testing occurring in Te Tairawhiti.
One thing I learnt during my time as a member of the Hauora Tairawhiti Aged and Disability and Community Public Health Advisory Committees was that we have a regional population that tends,
for a range of reasons, to not seek professional medical assistance during the early stages of being unwell.
In the context of our current very low numbers of recorded Covid-19 cases, and the potential for moving into a somewhat more relaxed series of contact protocols, I would suggest that it is incumbent on the Ministry of Health to implement in our region a robust programme of testing for the virus. This might be expected to include randomised testing both within and in addition to our most at-risk cohorts.
