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Regional

Support services remobilised for Mataatua whānau

Te Puna Ora o Mataatua (TPOOM) has remobilised its services to provide wraparound support to the entire Mataatua rohe.

Chief executive Dr Chris Tooley says the key driver behind the speedy response is regional and equity issues relating to health care accessibility in the Mataatua rohe.

“For many a return to Covid-19 Alert Level 4 can be an unsettling and uncertain time, which can bring about a lot of mental and financial stress but we are doing what we can to help offset this,” Tooley says.

Samantha Scown from TPOOM says discussions and conversations were already happening before the lockdown was announced on Tuesday evening.

"We were already bringing up contingency plans, and looking after whānau was the No. 1 priority.

"We got straight into it with testing and assessments and at the moment we have testing capabilities in Whakatāne and Kawerau."

Scown says their vaccination stations have been packed for the past two months, with mobile services active, and with entire organisations going to receive their vaccinations.

"I was present at one last week where there were kaimahi from OPAC (Opotiki Packaging and Coolstorage), so it was awesome to see all of the workers come through and receive their vaccinations," Scown says.

Testing stations and times in Mataatua (these times are being updated daily)

Whakatane

Kawerau