Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Covid-19 coronavirus: How Ōpōtiki got through lockdown

Samantha Olley
By Samantha Olley
Rotorua Daily Post·
18 May, 2020 06:14 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Eastern Bay towns working together to succeed. Made with funding by NZ On Air.

Language barriers, cordons and two-hour drives to get groceries were just some of the challenges for the Ōpōtiki district during the lockdown.

But community leaders are proud of how residents got through.

Mayor Lyn Riesterer said care packages sent out by iwi-led social welfare groups up and down the district were at the heart of the "well-organised" response, serving both Māori and Pākehā.

Ōpōtiki mayor Lyn Riesterer. Photo / File
Ōpōtiki mayor Lyn Riesterer. Photo / File

"The speed at which everything changed in those few weeks was overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. People were putting in such long hours to make sure things were in place ... it was a big learning curve for everybody."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She told NZME the district "still doesn't have enough internet connection" so many people used "good old-fashioned telephone trees" to keep others up to date.

One "really good thing" was that agriculture and horticulture were essential services, "so a lot of our people stayed in employment", Riesterer said.

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui community leader and Ōpōtiki district councillor Louis Rāpihana helped co-ordinate the iwi's response, including helping man the self-imposed closed borders near Tōrere in the south and Waihau Bay in the north.

He said one of the hardest challenges for the iwi was social isolation, "especially for our elderly who are used to meeting up on a weekly basis as a ropu".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said Te Rūnanga o Te Whānau's Covid-19 iwi response team, made of 13 fulltime staff and 30 hapu volunteers worked with kuia and kaumātua to extend their bubbles at level 3.

The inability to hold tangihanga was also a "huge challenge" Rāpihana said when there were three (not Covid-19-related) deaths in the area during alert levels 3 and 4.

Discover more

Lockdown impact to be 'felt for years to come'

14 Apr 05:00 PM

Our People: Chris Brewer, a master in overcoming grief

09 May 02:00 AM

Several areas of health need attention in Budget, local providers say

10 May 09:37 PM

Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi to end checkpoints

11 May 07:42 AM

"We're very fortunate that the whānau understood the risks ... should they open up the tangihanga to a public event."

Te Whānau-ā-Apanui community leader and Ōpōtiki district councillor Louis Rāpihana. Photo / File
Te Whānau-ā-Apanui community leader and Ōpōtiki district councillor Louis Rāpihana. Photo / File

The iwi arranged "driveby farewells" instead, where locals stood at their driveways to remember the dead as they were driven south to the undertaker in Whakatāne.

"It was not the way that we are used to but that's one way we managed."

The iwi's closed borders also prevented people from going to the supermarket in Ōpōtiki so "Apanui World" - a satellite New World - with click and collect shopping orders was set up by the runanga for all those inside the borders.

"We sold all items at retail price if not cheaper to help our people have the service here - so there was no need to travel through to town to get it.

"That's a service that we are looking at, how can we continue it post Covid-19? Do we have the ability to do that? If so, how are we going to do it?"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This service, and other support from the rūnanga, was provided for "all those living on the coast" if they wanted it.

Rāpihana thanked residents for their support: "It's a huge ask for our whānau ... they found the kaha and the courage."

READ MORE:
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Council staff too valuable to take pay cuts – Eastern Bay mayors
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Eastern Bay of Plenty iwi to end checkpoints
• Covid 19 coronavirus: Eastern Bay of Plenty assessment times change
• Eastern Bay of Plenty town Ōpōtiki records first coronavirus Covid 19 case

Kahu Abbot, a leader Neighbourhood Watch in Ōpōtiki and the town's Kōwhai kaumātua group, said elders "learned a lot from this lockdown"

"They've spent a lot of time with their families and a lot of them are on Zoom now."

She said it took a lot of encouragement for them to ask for help when they needed it, with the likes of transport and advice.

Ōpōtiki and Te Kaha rural response manager, Senior Sergeant Richard Miller. Photo / File
Ōpōtiki and Te Kaha rural response manager, Senior Sergeant Richard Miller. Photo / File

Ōpōtiki and Te Kaha rural response manager, Senior Sergeant Richard Miller, congratulated the community for its compliance in level 4.

"There were, of course, a few pushing the boundaries … but in general terms compliance was great."

He said traffic volumes were down, meaning fewer crashes, but "we want to remind people to take it easy when getting back behind the wheel".

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

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Popular Waikato walkway fully reopens after major upgrade

02 Jul 05:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Wet, wet, wet: Rain warning for BoP as more tropical weather looms

01 Jul 11:38 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

Bike racks back for Rotorua buses, Tauranga's a month away

02 Jul 11:55 AM

BoP public buses are being modified after national concerns over night-driving visibility.

Popular Waikato walkway fully reopens after major upgrade

Popular Waikato walkway fully reopens after major upgrade

02 Jul 05:00 AM
Wet, wet, wet: Rain warning for BoP as more tropical weather looms

Wet, wet, wet: Rain warning for BoP as more tropical weather looms

01 Jul 11:38 PM
Road reopens after person hit by truck

Road reopens after person hit by truck

01 Jul 11:24 PM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP