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Ka tiu te toroa a uta, ka hoka te toroa a tai
Te rangi pū nunui, te rangi pū roroa
Papaki kau ana ngā ngaru tuatea ki Waitangi
Horahia atu te takapou ki Pā Tangaroa
Tērā te motu kohu ko Wharekauri e takoto ake nei e Hai!
44 degrees south
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Tēnā tātou katoa,
As we all know, the Omicron variant has spread significantly around the motu since our last pānui.
While no cases have been identified on Wharekauri, with flights coming in and out each day, it’s only a matter of time.
We’re working hard to keep whānau informed about how we will handle COVID-19 on Wharekauri. Our isolation presents unique challenges with access to hospital for the seriously māuiui as well as with resources to care for everyone if the virus spreads quickly.
Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust have been collaborating with the Canterbury District Health Board to create a series of booklets to tautoko whānau about the processes around isolation and managing the symptoms of the virus in their whare.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll share some of this information in our pānui so that whānau on and off Wharekauri know what’s going on.
In today’s pānui we’ll look at:
- What Does Phase Three Mean for Whānau?
- Getting Your Whare Ready for Isolation
- What It’s Like to Get Omicron
- Rangatahi Scholarships Reminder
- Updates on the activities of the Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Trust.
As we work through the next few weeks with potentially large numbers of infections, it’s a really good time to stay in touch with each other.
If you have whānau who are not on our mailing list and would like to receive these important pānui – please encourage them to make contact with us.
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Ngā mihi mahana
Gail Amaru
Chief Executive Officer
Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust
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What Does Phase Three
Mean for Whānau?
Many of you will have heard that we are now operating in ‘Phase Three’ of our COVID-19 response. There’s lots of confusion out there about the ins and outs of the ‘phase’ system and what Phase 3 means for us all.
For day-to-day life on Wharekauri (and the mainland), Phase 3 means
- less interruption to mahi and kura with close contacts no longer required to isolate
- looking after yourselves as much as you can in your whare if you get māuiui
- trying to keep our resources (nurses and doctor) free to care for the whānau who get really māuiui from Omicron.
At phase 3, if someone that lives in your whare tests positive for COVID-19, everyone that lives in that whare have to isolate for 10 days.
If you are a close contact, someone who spent time with the person who tested positive, you don’t have to isolate, just monitor yourself for symptoms.
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What It’s Like To Get Omicron
If you’re fully vaccinated and you’ve had your booster, you will probably only experience mild symptoms – you might not even know that you have been infected.
For our whānau that have chosen not to vaccinate or have not had the booster, for our pepī and tamariki and for our kaumātua with other health problems, the virus might be very serious.
Symptoms in the first three days can be different for everyone. You might have a mamae throat, a cough, fever or headache. You could feel short of breath or a little pressure in your chest. Sometimes symptoms begin with diarrhoea. You might feel tired or you might lose your sense of taste and smell.
Even if you have a mild COVID-19 infection, avoid mahi hākinikina i.e., running, workouts, weights and high impact activities. Take it easy.
If you have any of these symptoms call the health team at the Chatham Islands Health Centre straight away to organise a test. Phone: 3050 035.
About 4 or 5 days after this, your breathing symptoms may start to get worse, especially if you have other conditions like high blood pressure, obesity or diabetes.
You may start to feel worse and may have aches, chills, a cough and find it hard to get comfortable.
Some younger people may develop rashes, including itchy red patches, swelling or blistering on their toes or fingers.
For most whānau, the worst is generally over after a week, though some might find they get worse at this point or start to feel better briefly then feel worse again.
By the end of two weeks, you will start to feel better, although you might still feel more tired than usual. Take it easy as you return to mahi.
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Getting Your Whare
Ready For Isolation
If someone in your whare tests positive for COVID-19 or has the symptoms of the virus, everyone that lives in your whare has to isolate for the health and safety of your whānau and friends.
This means you need to stay in your whare for at least 10 days while you all get better and not allow any manuhiri (visitors) in. You can’t go to the shops, mahi or kura.
10-Point list to Get Ready
- Develop a plan to isolate māuiui whānau members away from everyone else in the whare, maybe in a bedroom that no-one else will sleep in.
- Get together a cleaning and sanitisation kit, it might include gloves, masks, hand sanitiser, rubbish bags, basic supermarket cleaning sprays, tissues, wipes or old towels.
- Try to stock up on extra kai. Enough to last for 10 days if you can.
- If whānau on Wharekauri are struggling to afford extra kai, get in touch with our Whānau Ora Navigator, Hone Tibble to talk about how we can help (Ph: 3050 500)
- Get together a cold and flu kit. Most of your symptoms can be managed with regular cold and flu medicines. Panadol, Ibuprofen, ice blocks, honey, throat lozenges will all help. Remember that budget supermarket medicines like this do the same job as more expensive ones.
- Work out a network of whānau and neighbours so that those that are not isolating can help deliver kai or medicine for households who can’t leave their whare.
- If your whare has more than one bathroom, keep the second bathroom spare so that the māuiui whānau members can use that one and not come into contact with everyone else.
- There are times during isolation and when you are māuiui that will be hard for everyone. Pick up the phone whānau. Even if someone can’t come to your whare, there are lots of us just on the end of the line to help.
- Taha hinengaro, your mental health and wellbeing is just as important as taha tinana. Make a plan for how you will entertain yourself, tamariki and rangatahi while looking after māuiui whānau. Stay in touch with friends and other whānau to keep each other going when times get tough.
- Don’t forget any mōkai (pets) or farm stock. Make a plan to have enough food for mōkai in your whare and organise help to care for stock if you become māuiui.
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Remember to Apply for Rangatahi Scholarships
Don’t forget to take a look at the 2022 scholarships available to rangatahi to support their education.
Toitū Kaupapa Māori Mātauranga, the Māori Education Trust (MET) provides a large number of scholarships for rangatahi each financial year. The Trust’s 2022 scholarship applications are now open for both secondary and tertiary education scholarships ranging from $500 up to $30,000 for post-graduate study.
Further information about the scholarships and online application forms and closing dates are available on the MET website or by contacting the MET office:
Postal Address: PO Box 413, Wellington Box Lobby, Wellington 6140
Phone: (04) 586 7971
Email: info@maorieducation.org.nz
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Our Website Address
The website for Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri Iwi Trust, is a great place for whānau to access information about the activities of the Trust and about the history of our iwi.
Please note - the address of the site has changed and can now be found at nmow.iwi.nz.
Whānau can also stay in touch via our Facebook page.
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Remain Connected
If you have moved house or changed email or phone number, please contact us via our contact page on our website nmow.iwi.nz or by email iwitrust@nmow.iwi.nz.
The Trust is working hard to keep all whānau up to date with activities on Wharekauri, managing our database is a key part of this mahi.
If you have whānau or friends who whakapapa to Wharekauri, please check if they are interested in receiving updates from us and ask them to contact us.
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