Covid-19 coronavirus: Mongrel Mob anniversary to be held in Porirua less than a fortnight after Covid scare

Attendees of last week's tangi were encouraged to get tested for Covid-19. Photo / Jack Crossland

The Mongrel Mob's 50th anniversary in Porirua this weekend has some residents worried, less than two weeks after a tangi prompted calls for all attendees to get tested for Covid.

Last week a gang-led tangi passed through Porirua suburbs, finishing at Whenua Tapu Cemetery in Pukerua Bay, href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/four-arrests-two-vehicles-impounded-following-mongrel-mob-related-tangi-in-porirua/KDKSCZ3C6Y2CT2NCCYCVWGWXBU/" target="_blank">leading to 27 infringement notices and four arrests.

Health authorities later called for anyone involved in the tangi to get tested for Covid-19, as a person who tested positive in Auckland the previous month had reportedly travelled to Porirua to attend the tangi.

Although the Ministry had assessed the health risk as low, Porirua mayor Anita Baker said residents had been worried at this news and local testing sites had remained open longer as a result.

"I heard from a few people that they were extremely upset about this and the fact that someone had possibly travelled when they shouldn't," she said.

Last week a tangi in Porirua led to four arrests at 27 infringement notices. Photo / Jack Crossland

DHB data had not showed a significant increase in testing since the Ministry's calls for tangi attendees to get tested.

A total of 344 tests were undertaken on Saturday by Capital and Coast and Hutt Valley DHBs, compared with 375 on the previous Saturday.

The Mongrel mob's 50th anniversary is scheduled for Porirua this Saturday, with attendees arriving from all over the country.

"Obviously we don't know the numbers that are coming and that's always a concern," Baker said.

"So we just have to hope that they are all vaccinated when they do come, and that they come from legal parts of the region and not from places where we don't want them."

Porirua had been a huge focus of Super Saturday vaccination campaigns, after the area was identified as lagging behind others in the region – particularly for youth.

Last weekend marked three weeks since Super Saturday, held on October 16, meaning hundreds of residents would have been due for their second dose of the vaccine.

Capital and Coast DHB is currently 84 per cent fully vaccinated, with 93 per cent having received their first dose.

Hutt Valley DHB is 79 per cent fully vaccinated, with 89 per cent having received a first dose.