One Kāwhia case test positive for Covid-19

One Kāwhia case has tested positive for Covid-19 today, the Waikato District Health Board confirmed with local leaders from 8 Kāwhia Moana marae.

He has been identified as a young man living in Kāwhia. 

The Ministry of Health says the young man will be moved to an Auckland quarantine facility in the next 24 hours. In the meantime, local Kāwhia GP Dr “John” Burton has begun testing this afternoon and tomorrow the Waikato DHB will move into Kāwhia with a pop-up testing station on Maketū marae. They will also be onsite on Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm each day. 

At the same time, Health provider, Raukura Hauora, will also set up a vaccination station on Maketū marae. 

CEO for Raukura Hauora, Terina Moke says time is of the essence. “This virus doesn’t care whether you’ve been vaccinated or not. What the medical research is clearly showing, the unvaccinated are dying from this Delta strain. The vaccination station on Maketū marae tomorrow will also open at 10 am. We’ll then move to Tahāroa on Friday starting at 10 am with a pop up at the Tahāroa Club for vaccinations as well as testing and then onto Marokopa Sport's ground at 1:30 pm. Please note testing and vaccination venues and times for Rākaunui and Hauturu have yet to be confirmed.  On Saturday we’ll be back at Maketū at 10 am vaccinating as many people as we can,” Terina confirmed. 

Kāwhia, south of Raglan currently lies outside of the Waikato Level 3 lockdown after the DHB reported the new positive Covid-19 community case. This new positive case has household links to the Raglan case and the positive cases reported in Hamilton East. Terina says while genome sequencing for Raglan and Hamilton confirms they’re linked and both cases are linked to one of the sub-clusters in Auckland, the fact the positive case in Kāwhia is a household contact, is important. “Both the DHB and MOH are across these cases. Our job is to rapidly test and vaccinate everyone around the Kāwhia harbour so we can evaluate the extent to which this Delta strain has evolved. Whanau, if you need to be vaccinated, we are here to help,” Terina says. 

The key strategies to contain the spread of the virus are testing, isolating if need be and most importantly, vaccinating. “This is a community issue and we’re part of a community-wide response. It’s important in this time of dire need that we all be kind and supportive of each other. To beat the dreaded COVID we must work together - the local community, Waikato Tainui, DHB, health providers and local Councils”. 

“My Dad lives here. This is a vulnerable tight-knit community with a recorded population of 410 people in 2020. Almost a third of the community is 65 years and older. Just over half of the community are aged between 15-65 years and 17% aged 0-14 years. Everyone knows each other and they all use the same community facilities and services; so, time is crucial which is why we’ll be out in Kāwhia tomorrow to blitz testing and vaccinating,” Terina says. 

She strongly advises testing and vaccination for everyone in the community. “If you have cold or flu-like symptoms, you need to get tested immediately, For the people of Kāwhia, we’ll be at Maketū marae with the DHB, tomorrow through to Saturday,” Terina says.

If you are showing signs of being unwell and want some advice, please call the Healthline on 0800 358 5453 or your GP for guidance as your first port of call.