After 14 days in quarantine, members of a whānau mourning the loss of their father have finally been able to visit his grave.
The Ministry of Health would not grant them a compassionate exemption to attend their father's tangi, actions they claim was unfair because they're Māori. Other people had been granted such exemptions including two women who then had developed Covid-19.
Māori Television sought a response from the Ministry of Health a week ago and today replied, saying it expressed its "sympathy to the Hawea whānau and their loss," It said ethnicity was not a factor to its decision.
