Royal Commission hears of Covid lockdown impacts on Auckland, Northland
The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Covid-19 is looking into the Government's response to the pandemic and its effects.
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‘Paranoia And Misinformation Spread Faster Than Covid', Inquiry Told
Article – RNZ A lack of clear communication from the government may have contributed to the spread of Covid-19 misinformation in the Mori and Pasifika communities, the Royal Commission of Inquiry has heard. , Journalist A lack of clear communication from the government may have contributed to the spread of Covid-19 misinformation in the Māori and Pasifika communities, the Royal Commission of Inquiry has heard. Community and health leaders for Māori and Pasifika have spoken to the inquiry into the Covid-19 response about their struggles adapting to lockdown regulations. The third day of the week-long hearing took place in Auckland yesterday. This week's hearings are concentrating on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021, and on vaccine mandates and safety. Communication and information from health authorities during the lockdown was an issue, with community leaders highlighting that the language used when trying to inform their people about Covid and the vaccine was often very technical and difficult to understand. Reverend Victor Pouesi, from the Christian Church of Samoa in Manukau, said this may have contributed to the spread of misinformation, with many fearful of Covid-19 and vaccinations. 'People were looking for alternative sources of information other than the government, and that created a lot of problems. 'Paranoia and misinformation spread faster than Covid itself.' He said their church was able to livestream a broadcast with information from the government and social services to inform their community. Similar issues were faced by the Māori health and social services organisations that spoke to the commissioners. Hector Kawai – a director at Te Whānau o Waipareira, a health and social service provider in West Auckland – said online misinformation hampered vaccination efforts. 'Being on the front line we had a lot of whānau who came to us who were saying: 'Oh I don't want to put that poison in my body', you know? 'They had been seeing stuff which they had got from some quote – unquote Facebook expert,' he said. Raewyn Bhana, deputy director of Whanau ora community clinics, a healthcare provider that focuses on Maori health, said this misinformation often turned into conflict. Speaking to commissioners through an audio link, she talked about the protests at vaccination clinics. 'When we had our community, our pakeke (older adults), our kaumatua (elderly men) and kuia (elderly women) coming through it was quite fearful for them to be vaccinated when you've got protesters outside who were threatening our people who were coming through,' she said. Both parties told the commissioners that Māori-led solutions and initiatives had the best reach within their communities, often because Māori had a deep mistrust of government. Hector Kawai said kaupapa Māori led solutions like those offered by Te Whānau o Waipareira, did well to connect with Māori during the pandemic, but their work was not always well received. 'When we first came on to be an essential service I felt there was a certain amount of institutional racism, because of this you know 'oh there's just a bunch of Māoris out in the community' and the only ones who should be delivering out vaccinations and services should be doctors and nurses, but in fact we can do these sorts of things,' he said. 'People took your loved ones away' The difficulty Pasifika families faced around funerals during lockdowns was also highlighted yesterday. Penina Ifopo – a Samoan community leader in Manurewa – said his people struggled with government restrictions that limited how many people could attend funerals and how they were conducted. 'People took your loved ones away, put them in a house you had no idea of, they're alone in there. 'We have a spiritual connection with our loved ones and then you see the hearse taking them to be buried … it was very traumatising,' she said tearfully. 'We don't do counselling when it comes to funerals, the therapy is within us, it's our togetherness, it's both our Christian values together with our Samoan values.' Ifopo spoke of other difficulties faced in her community, particularly for households with families. She said many parents were not prepared and did not have the adequate tools for their children to do online learning. 'A lot of families were just living on data, there's no wifi at home,' she said. 'And also, you're lucky if there's a laptop, you'll find phones in every single home but no wifi and then parents just don't know what to do because they were having to be the teachers at the time.' Lack of hospitality from customers Meanwhile, a person working in the hospitality industry at the time of the lockdowns told the inquiry into the Covid response that she dealt with intimidating behaviour from customers. Jodie Rameka told the inquiry she felt like she was being blamed for customers needing to wear masks in her shop. 'Even having to ask them if they had a pass if they came in without a face mask, and just the reactions from a lot of the customers were very scary.' Rameka said she tried to sympathize with her customers. 'If I'm being honest, I rather them take it out on me than go and take it out on someone else,' she said. 'So I just took it.' Rameka said she changed her whole career because of the pandemic. Today the inquiry will focus on vaccine safety and will hear from advocacy groups.
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
'Paranoia And Misinformation Spread Faster Than Covid', Inquiry Told
A lack of clear communication from the government may have contributed to the spread of Covid-19 misinformation in the Māori and Pasifika communities, the Royal Commission of Inquiry has heard. Community and health leaders for Māori and Pasifika have spoken to the inquiry into the Covid-19 response about their struggles adapting to lockdown regulations. The third day of the week-long hearing took place in Auckland yesterday. This week's hearings are concentrating on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021, and on vaccine mandates and safety. Communication and information from health authorities during the lockdown was an issue, with community leaders highlighting that the language used when trying to inform their people about Covid and the vaccine was often very technical and difficult to understand. Reverend Victor Pouesi, from the Christian Church of Samoa in Manukau, said this may have contributed to the spread of misinformation, with many fearful of Covid-19 and vaccinations. "People were looking for alternative sources of information other than the government, and that created a lot of problems. "Paranoia and misinformation spread faster than Covid itself." He said their church was able to livestream a broadcast with information from the government and social services to inform their community. Similar issues were faced by the Māori health and social services organisations that spoke to the commissioners. Hector Kawai - a director at Te Whānau o Waipareira, a health and social service provider in West Auckland - said online misinformation hampered vaccination efforts. "Being on the front line we had a lot of whānau who came to us who were saying: 'Oh I don't want to put that poison in my body', you know? "They had been seeing stuff which they had got from some quote - unquote Facebook expert," he said. Raewyn Bhana, deputy director of Whanau ora community clinics, a healthcare provider that focuses on Maori health, said this misinformation often turned into conflict. Speaking to commissioners through an audio link, she talked about the protests at vaccination clinics. "When we had our community, our pakeke (older adults), our kaumatua (elderly men) and kuia (elderly women) coming through it was quite fearful for them to be vaccinated when you've got protesters outside who were threatening our people who were coming through," she said. Both parties told the commissioners that Māori-led solutions and initiatives had the best reach within their communities, often because Māori had a deep mistrust of government. Hector Kawai said kaupapa Māori led solutions like those offered by Te Whānau o Waipareira, did well to connect with Māori during the pandemic, but their work was not always well received. "When we first came on to be an essential service I felt there was a certain amount of institutional racism, because of this you know 'oh there's just a bunch of Māoris out in the community' and the only ones who should be delivering out vaccinations and services should be doctors and nurses, but in fact we can do these sorts of things," he said. 'People took your loved ones away' The difficulty Pasifika families faced around funerals during lockdowns was also highlighted yesterday. Penina Ifopo - a Samoan community leader in Manurewa - said his people struggled with government restrictions that limited how many people could attend funerals and how they were conducted. "People took your loved ones away, put them in a house you had no idea of, they're alone in there. "We have a spiritual connection with our loved ones and then you see the hearse taking them to be buried ... it was very traumatising," she said tearfully. "We don't do counselling when it comes to funerals, the therapy is within us, it's our togetherness, it's both our Christian values together with our Samoan values." Ifopo spoke of other difficulties faced in her community, particularly for households with families. She said many parents were not prepared and did not have the adequate tools for their children to do online learning. "A lot of families were just living on data, there's no wifi at home," she said. "And also, you're lucky if there's a laptop, you'll find phones in every single home but no wifi and then parents just don't know what to do because they were having to be the teachers at the time." Lack of hospitality from customers Meanwhile, a person working in the hospitality industry at the time of the lockdowns told the inquiry into the Covid response that she dealt with intimidating behaviour from customers. Jodie Rameka told the inquiry she felt like she was being blamed for customers needing to wear masks in her shop. "Even having to ask them if they had a pass if they came in without a face mask, and just the reactions from a lot of the customers were very scary." Rameka said she tried to sympathize with her customers. "If I'm being honest, I rather them take it out on me than go and take it out on someone else," she said. "So I just took it." Rameka said she changed her whole career because of the pandemic. Today the inquiry will focus on vaccine safety and will hear from advocacy groups.
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Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern To Give Evidence To Covid Response Inquiry
Former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern will provide evidence to the Royal Commission investigating New Zealand's Covid-19 pandemic response. The inquiry is looking into the government's response to the pandemic and its effects. This week's hearings have concentrated on the impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021 and on vaccine mandates and safety. RNZ previously reported that the commission had requested Ardern to give evidence at a public hearing in August. But the commission said no decisions had been made about who would appear. "The witness list is still under consideration, and it is not appropriate to make further comment about it at this stage," they said in a written statement. "The Inquiry will share the witness list and more information about the planned August public hearing in due course." A spokesperson for Ardern said she will provide evidence to assist the commission meet its terms of reference and are in discussions about the best way for that to happen. She provided testimony to the first phase of the Inquiry, the spokesperson said. "She is also happy for the commission to access her previous testimony," the spokesperson said. The first phase was conducted behind closed doors with conclusions and recommendations made public afterwards. The impact of the extended lockdown in Auckland and Northland in 2021 has been the main topic of discussion at this week's hearings. On Tuesday, Dr Antje Deckert told the Inquiry that 63,000 lockdown breaches were reported to police by citizens during levels 4, 3 and 2. Police road stops were also counterproductive because officers were often unclear on how to enforce lockdown rules, she said. Deckert said people found it difficult balancing government messaging of being kind while also enforcing lockdown rules. Representatives from the disabled community have revealed they were often a target of abuse during lockdowns. A Pasifika health expert said the Pacific population was over-represented in all aspects of the pandemic. Auckland Council disability advisory group co-chair Barry De Geest said because disabled people were often mask or vaccine exempt, it led to cases of discrimination. "The number of people we had crying because they'd been uptown or done something and they were being abused by people saying you know 'put your mask on', you know 'think of us', you know so there was so much of that."
