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It was a return to mask-wearing and anxious faces for many people in and around Orewa last week, following the news that two North Aucklanders who tested positive for Covid-19 had visited several local shops and businesses.
The father and his young daughter, together with an earlier Northland case, are all thought to have contracted the more virulent South African strain of the virus after being in the same areas as an infected person at the Pullman Hotel. They were sent to quarantine at the Jet Park Hotel, while the mother was isolating at home.
After the news broke, Orewa town centre was almost deserted on Thursday, January 28 and queues for the pop-up testing station at Victor Eaves Reserve stretched right around the park, from the Florence Avenue entrance back along West Hoe Road to the Centreway Road roundabout, causing gridlock. However, apart from the odd horn beep and off-road crossing of grass median strips, most drivers were patient and accepted the situation.
The Evelyn Page retirement village had already stopped visits to its hospital care centre and nearby serviced apartments as a result of the Northland and Helensville case.
However, corporate affairs manager David King said if a person was in end of life or palliative care, visits were still allowed.
“We have found in the past that we have had strong support from our residents and their families for taking a conservative approach because of the risk Covid poses,” he said.
At Metlifecare’s Hibiscus Coast Village and Gulf Rise in Red Beach, visits were still being allowed as Hibiscus Matters went to press, though with stringent protocols in place with regard to using the Government tracer app, signing in and cleaning, and daily reviews were taking place.
Organisers of Anniversary Weekend events, such as Hibiscus Coast Rodders’ Sharon Morris, were left in limbo awaiting final advice from the Ministry of Health, but on Thursday afternoon, the popular two-day Beach Festival was still set to go ahead.
“Unless something goes to custard on Friday, we’re going ahead,” she said. “We’ll be guided by the Ministry.”
The two new community cases visited shops including Pak n’ Save in Silverdale and Caltex, Hickeys Pharmacy and New World in Orewa between January 17 and 27, plus Farmers at Westfield Albany mall and Tai Ping supermarkets in Albany and Northcote.
The Ministry of Health advised that although there was a low risk of exposure, out of “an abundance of caution”, individuals should stay at home and get a test if they visited these locations during the relevant times, and call Healthline on 0800 358 5453. For the list of places of interest and info: health.govt.nz
Scans a vital tool
The importance of scanning the Covid-19 tracer app – which many local businesses have described this summer as “sporadic” among their customers – has been highlighted by the local business association, Destination Orewa Beach, following the recent cases. Destination Orewa Beach operations manager Hellen Wilkins says it is clear that a large number of people visiting local businesses had become complacent about scanning. She says her organisation is doing whatever it can to support Orewa businesses, including suggesting they have someone actively making people scan in before they enter the premises.
