A solo mum of two who struggled to afford food and nappies when she had to isolate is among thousands doing it tough as Omicron rages.
Half of those needing foodbank support had never used the service in 30 years, while a homelessness agency says food is a "precious commodity" and has become a higher priority than housing for some clients.
Some are taking out credit cards to buy basics, losing jobs, and avoiding Covid tests because they can't afford time off work. And nearly one in three of
the hundreds of welfare calls to the Ministry of Social Development are from people not on benefits.
Tauranga mum Tania Wyatt is still trying to catch up financially from the extra power costs of isolating for 10 days at the end of last year.
She and her two children isolated after her son was deemed a close contact at school. They did not have Covid-19.
Wyatt is on a benefit and said she struggled to buy food and nappies for her 2-year-old and had no phone credit while in isolation.
The situation sent her "mental health into a spiral".
"[I] have so much anxiety that it's going to happen again."
She said they were lucky to get food from the foodbank near the end of their isolation.
Good Neighbour has helped 271 households — some as large as 19 people — in the past week.
It's had a contract with the ministry since January to supply emergency food parcels for people isolating.
Media and marketing coordinator Angela Rogers said what started as small volumes of food parcels has grown to an average of about 220 per week.
They needed 30 volunteers a week to keep up so were grateful to the community agencies and businesses that had sent staff to help, Rogers said.
Additionally, 3000 heat-and-eat meals – about 1000kg – are made by two chefs and kitchen volunteers each week for those not well enough to cook for themselves.
Rogers said the team expected to see waves of referrals over the coming winter months and into spring.
The steady wave of referrals was manageable with the volumes of parcels going out for delivery within a 24-hour turnaround.
As the outbreak disrupted supermarket logistics, she said there had also been less food coming into the organisation's food rescue which supported more than 72 charities and organisations weekly.
It's received "invaluable" bulk food from the NZ Food Network to top up what Good Neighbour could send to agencies.
Rogers said while volunteer numbers were affected by Covid, they were lucky to have a list of reserves willing to help at short notice.
"Our staff are truly amazing and fully committed to supporting the community in all the practical ways Good Neighbour is known for."
Many people who received help had also offered their time to volunteer once they have recovered, Rogers said.
Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said about half of its demand was from people who had never used the service in its 30 years.
She said they either had no one to do their shopping or had lost income due to Covid or isolation.
"We're going to see the fallout of that for the months to come."
This was already seen in people needing the service once they recovered as their lack of income during isolation meant they needed to wait a fortnight before they got paid again.
Goodwin said the Foodbank worked with Good Neighbour and also did some of the emergency parcels, which were needed that day or the next day.
"People are really stressed and anxious, and once they know they've got support lined up, their stress levels really go down."
She said the demand she was often around day four or five after people realised they needed help despite thinking they would be okay.
Covid in general had taken its toll on the staff and volunteers who have worked through the lockdowns.
Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services executive director Tommy Wilson said hardships were magnified as people didn't have the resources to manage their families.
"It's terrifying ... you can see it.
"Food has become the most precious commodity ... getting food to those who can't feed themselves is a priority more than housing at the moment."
On top of this, the housing crisis has also been intensified, with up to 40 interventions in a morning of people "desperately" looking for homes.
"That's never happened before."
This stemmed from people losing their jobs, including those who chose not to vaccinate, and landlords taking back their houses to self-isolate themselves or their own families.
He said it was fortunate that they followed the advice from local GP Dr Tony Farrell around forming alternating groups of staff.
The service was down to three staff a few weeks ago but Wilson believed they were through the worst of it. He said the trust had a lot of help from the ministry.
Tauranga Budget Advisory Services manager Shirley McCombe said people were out of reserves, if they ever had any, and were turning to credit cards and loans to bridge the gap.
Businesses were also struggling and staff were losing hours and even jobs.
Some clients had "absolutely no income", some have had hours reduced and can't make ends meet, and some are isolating and need food delivered.
"We have had a number of clients call because they have been told by their employers that they would have to take leave without pay if they are sick or needing to isolate."
McCombe said the impact on supermarket supply chains reduced shopping options, and families had to buy more expensive options.
Children isolating at home added to the pressure, especially if they would normally have meals at school or daycare.
McCombe said ideally, everyone should have a buffer to help during these times, but that wasn't a reasonable expectation for everyone as many families didn't have enough money for food each week.
Demand at Here to Help U in Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty has increased by 312 per cent in the outbreak compared to lockdown last year.
In the past week, it's had an average of 33 requests a day through, with three quarters being from people self-isolating.
The free service, manned by two connectors, was rolled out by the Wise Group, was new to the area and was softly launched in August last year.
Felicity Beadle, of Wise Group, said it was a minimum of 15 minutes on the phone with every request to understand the caller's needs and help triage them. This excluded the follow-ups.
Anxiety was a common theme through those calling in, especially around young children or elderly relatives catching Covid.
People were stressed about the financial impact of taking time off work with "many" not earning income while isolating.
Others, entitled to the wage subsidy, were getting less than their normal wages and struggled to pay bills and buy food.
SociaLink general manager Liz Davies said many say they won't be tested as they can't afford the time off work.
She said businesses were also struggling, saying if one more staff member got sick they would have to close their doors.
She said Covid has amplified the issues of poverty for families with many of these whānau also seeing emerging mental health issues.
She said there was also a lot of anxiety, particularly those that are immune-compromised.
Many social agencies were losing staff and volunteers that needed to isolate and were struggling to support families in isolation.
The Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Mike Bryant said nearly one in three of the requests for help to MSD were from people who did not receive any of its prior support.
In the week ending March 13, there were 1161 requests for welfare support in the Bay of Plenty region, and about 30 per cent did not have an MSD relationship.
There were 3480 requests for support since December 3.
Most of this was for food.
In February, the Leave Support Scheme supported about 2325 jobs in the region.
The scheme supported employers, including self-employed people, to help pay their employees who have to self-isolate and can't work at home.
Bryant said while most people could look after themselves with help from friends and whānau, others needed a range of support, particularly where needs were complex.
He said the agency could connect people to the right support, including food or other grants, and connect people to community providers or partner agencies.
The help was not limited to those already receiving a benefit.
The regional team coordinated the welfare response through local partnerships to ensure the response was tailored to local needs.
Its Covid-19 Welfare Line was available for anyone who may need extra help.
The Government provided a total of $348.8m in funding in November and February for the Care in the Community welfare response which goes to agencies and providers to support those isolating.
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