IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR OUR PACIFIC COMMUNITY

An important addendum to todays Covid announcement is that none of the confirmed Pacific cases are so far linked to the Emmanuel Cook Islands Church that the Rydges maintenance worker attended.

Prime Minister Jacinda Adern reinforces the importance of keeping up the high levels of Pacific testing if anyone has symptoms of Covid and reminds the public of how high Pasifika testing numbers are at 23% - higher then the percentage of the Pacific population in Aotearoa.

She has also given assurance that there will be a Pacific member included in the Ministry Of Health team in dealing with assessments and recommendations for our vulnerable communities.

Another important point made for Pasifika communities is that testing for overstayers is done by Ministry Of Health and this testing process isn't connected to other government enforcement agencies. Dr Bloomfield encrouages all people regardless of immigrations status to come forward and says the Government is keen to establish a position of community trust on this.