New Zealand has another coronavirus-related death - a man in his 60s from the Rosewood Rest Home in Christchurch. The country also has five new Covid-19 cases today - two confirmed and three probable.
Thousands of New Zealanders have lost their loved ones over the past four weeks and not been able to properly grieve, a "rigid" process being described by health experts as "inhumane".
Under alert level 4 restrictions, gatherings for funerals and tangihanga are not allowed, and only whānau in the same isolation bubble are able to view the deceased.
Once the country moves to alert level 3 on Tuesday, up to 10 people will be able to attend a tangihanga or funeral.
However, Māori health experts from national pandemic group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā say this is still not good enough, and not based on scientific evidence.
"Level 4 restrictions were rigid, inhumane and devalued the importance of Māori cultural practices," Associate Professor of Maōri Health and public health physician at the University of Auckland Dr Elana Curtis said.
"Tangihanga guidelines were based on the view that Māori are a group who need to be managed within our own cultural practices – that we can't be trusted to do what is safe."
The rōpū had reviewed international pathology reports to understand the transmission of Covid-19 between the deceased and the living, and believed guidelines could be more humane and culturally appropriate, while also ensuring the health and safety of whānau, she said.
The number of whānau should be determined by the funeral director's ability to ensure appropriate physical distancing, rather than abiding by an "arbitrary number".
The rōpū also wanted inter-regional travel allowed where necessary to return someone to their ancestral urupā (cemetery).
"The most distressing thing is that all New Zealanders are trusted to go the supermarket on any given day and time," Curtis said.
"However, despite the leadership role that Māori have shown throughout the Covid-19 response, we are not trusted to care for our whānau within our own cultural practices."
This call has been backed by Funeral Directors Association of New Zealand president Gary Taylor, who says the inability for people to properly grieve over the past four weeks was "taking its toll".
"We applaud what the Government has done so far, but thousands of families are struggling, are incredibly upset and angry, and I think that is going to take a huge toll mentally and emotionally as this drags on."
Taylor said more trust needed to be placed in funeral directors to manage the environments appropriately.
"Look at supermarkets and dairies, and now real-estate viewings - they are all trusted to manage people, yet we are being told only those in the bubble of the deceased, and only up to 10 can attend.
"We are not advocating huge gatherings, nor different bubbles mixing, but to trust funeral directors to make that call based on safety and the size of their venue."
A Ministry of Health spokeswoman said they appreciated advice from the rōpū, and revised guidelines for tangihanga at alert level 3 would be "released soon", developed with iwi leaders, tikanga experts, and Māori advisers.
They would allow for whānau and friends living in the same region as the deceased to visit the funeral directors at which the tūpāpaku (deceased) is lying in state, but only 10 people would be allowed at any given time.
Viewings also needed to be contained to whānau from within the same bubble, she said.
The alert level 4 restrictions were "rigid" to ensure safety, she said.
"We do not agree the guidelines were inhumane and devalued the importance of Māori cultural practices.
"We value tikanga and recognise how important it is in keeping our people safe."
Māori-led checkpoints are being credited with keeping Covid-19 out of some of the country's most vulnerable communities. Photo / John Stone
The 10-person restriction on gatherings at alert level 3 will also apply to wedding ceremonies.
At alert level 4 ceremonies were allowed to take place, although the guidelines were confusing for many.
A Department of Internal Affairs spokesman said it was "up to the couple and the celebrant" to use their judgment as to whether a wedding should proceed by following the Government's advice on the Covid-19 website.
"If a couple believes, for whatever reason, that their marriage will go ahead, the Registrar-General advises that they only use a celebrant in their bubble or who lives very close by (for example, across the street), and follow every aspect of the Ministry of Health distancing and sanitising guidelines."
As the country moved to alert level 3, the same advice remained, but now 10 people could attend ceremonies.
Physical distancing, protective equipment and Covid-19 hygiene requirements should be used.
The spokesman said they were unable to provide guidance about restrictions for level 2 at this stage.
Alert level 3 will also mean women in labour in a maternity facility will be allowed two support partners from her extended bubble for the duration of the labour and birth.
