Officials warned ministers they expected "significant underestimates" of the level of domestic violence during the level 4 lockdown, due to limited opportunities to report any abuse.
This is according to a report provided to the Minister of Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, released today in another tranche of Covid-19 documents.
The report advised the Minister on how best the Government could mitigate the social impacts of Covid-19 and detailed who would be most disproportionately impacted.
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"The Review shows that Covid-19 pandemic is expected to have disproportionately negative impacts on Māori children and young people and other groups of Māori," it said.
It added that Pacific people would also be some of the most adversely affected by the pandemic and the lockdown.