A combined effort from local health providers and the people of Tairāwhiti has allowed the district to leap ahead of others in responding to COVID-19.
Tairāwhiti has the highest rate of testing per capita and for Māori, as well as the lowest number of total cases in New Zealand according to a recent report from the Ministry of Health.
Entering Level 2 on Thursday 14 May, 5.2% of Tairāwhiti’s population had been tested for COVID-19, which is the highest rate per capita in the country.
As of Wednesday 27 May, 3649 swabbing tests have been carried out in Tairāwhiti. This includes 2126 tests, or 6.5% of the district’s Māori population, which is also the highest in the country according to the Ministry of Health’s report.
Six percent of Tairāwhiti’s Pasifika population have also been tested, with 106 tests carried out on Pasifika people in the district as of 27 May 2020.
Tairāwhiti currently has the lowest number of positive COVID-19 cases in New Zealand, at a total of three.
“I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to our health workforce, at Hauora Tairāwhiti, and also our iwi providers, primary care, aged residential care, COVID-19 testers, and carers in the community”, says Hauora Tairāwhiti Board Chair Kim Ngarimu.
Ms Ngarimu also noted that the success of Tairāwhiti’s COVID-19 response has also been ensured by the diligence and consideration shown by the people in our district who were diagnosed with the virus and who strictly observed self-isolation protocols.
“Our efforts as a DHB, combined with the efforts of other groups and the wider Tairāwhiti community, have kept our community safe, and ensured confidence in our COVID-19 status as a district”.
“Our attention is now focused on ensuring we can respond to any future recurrence of COVID-19, whilst winding up COVID related clinical services, and working hard to deliver care that was deferred during levels 3 and 4.”