Hamish Pankhurst with Sinead Sandbrook. Dannevirke Pharmacy is one of two distribution pharmacies for Ministry of Health RATs in the Tararua. Photo / Dave Murdoch
Hamish Pankhurst with Sinead Sandbrook. Dannevirke Pharmacy is one of two distribution pharmacies for Ministry of Health RATs in the Tararua. Photo / Dave Murdoch
A Dannevirke retailer is reminding its customers to stay home if they're showing any symptoms of Covid-19.
Dannevirke Pharmacy owner Hamish Pankhurst said his concern was not just for his staff or his store but for every retailer or hospitality venue in the town.
"If you're not feeling well, or have any cough or cold symptoms or Covid-19 symptoms please, if you can, do not come down to the pharmacy.
"[This] doesn't just apply to me, it's all the retail businesses as well.
Pankhurst said the pharmacy was one of two in the Tararua which was a distribution pharmacy for the Ministry of Health rapid antigen tests (RATs).
He said the pharmacy had distributed more than 400 individual orders and about 4000 individual tests.
The pharmacy owner was also trying to get retail stock in which would be sold at a price point consistent with those the supermarket and the Warehouse were selling them at.
Pankhurst said the Ministry of Health tests were only available to those who were critical workers, household contacts or those who were showing Covid-19 symptoms.
However, the pharmacy was limited in how many Ministry of Health tests it could get.
That meant a lot of work to fill back orders and a lot of late nights.
"I do it because I love it. I love the community," Pankhurst said.
However, that also meant the workload had increased and he was keen to ensure his staff were safe and that the pharmacy, the only one in Dannevirke, could "keep doing what we're doing".
"We've got things in place and we can operate."
Pankhurst said he had seen some supermarkets in Hawke's Bay dropping their hours and, in the worst case, that was something he might have to do or the pharmacy would have to go back to closed doors.
Retailers are reminding customers to stay home if unwell rather than posing a risk to staff. Photo / NZME
"We want to keep operating as we are now. But if we start going down, we have to put in steps."
For those customers who were unwell, he said they could ask someone who was well to get what they needed from the pharmacy, or they could use contactless methods. "Which we have been doing the past couple of weeks."
Dannevirke New World, as the only supermarket in town, was also affected not only by the risk of staff being exposed to Covid but also in supply.
Foodstuffs NZ corporate affairs manager Emma Wooster said keeping customers and team members safe while making sure there was a constant supply of essentials continued to be their priority.
"We kindly ask New Zealanders to play their role in ensuring we can do this by following the protocols and advice in place, including staying home if unwell."
She said if customers were unable to come into the stores because they were vulnerable, feeling unwell, or were isolating at home, they were encouraged to ask a friend or neighbour to shop for them or use the online and click and collect services where available.
"These currently have good capacity. Additionally, the student volunteer army has reinstated its grocery delivery service in partnership with New World, predominantly to support people with Covid-19."
Wooster said there was plenty of food and while there were challenges that came with fluctuating numbers of isolating team members throughout the supply chain, teams and operations in Foodstuffs distribution centres and stores were managing well under the constantly changing circumstances.
"As some of our suppliers are being impacted by staff having to isolate, we've been working with them to find the best way to maximise product availability in stores, including giving priority to stocking the most popular items first.
"Our teams are working hard to ensure we have options in every category and we may also limit the number of products customers can buy in one shop, so everyone has a fair opportunity to get what they need. This will vary from store to store.
"We've also been cross-training and employing more people so we can keep the stock flowing to our stores and onto shelves."
Wooster said Foodstuffs was 100 per cent locally owned and operated so the store owners knew their communities and their customers and went the extra mile to meet their needs.
"Over the past two years we've continued to keep all of our stores open, and we're so proud of that.
"We're a small country and we've done well through this pandemic by working together and respecting each other, and we'll need to continue to do that."
She said customers could help by buying only what they needed, continuing to be respectful to the teams and being flexible when they shopped if their first choice wasn't on the shelf.
