Originally published by Māori Television
Baby Maile was the first Covid-19 hospitalisation in Northland.
Her whānau says she is in good spirits now, and is grateful she came unharmed through the "scary" process of having Covid.
Covid has hit their whānau and is in three generations, with Mum Atawhai contracting the virus, along with Maile's grandparents, who are self-isolating in the small Kaipara settlement of Pouto.
Atawhai has a clear message for whānau who are doubtful: waste no time and get vaccinated.
"I was one of that whānau sceptical about Covid until now it's happened to me and my family," she says.
The Ministry of Health announced Maile was in hospital on November 8 - she was 6 weeks old at the time. Atawhai recalls the fear their whānau experienced when Maile was diagnosed.
"She had this husky bark of a cough every time she breathed in and she was coughing back out. It was scary. I could not believe a child could get it at such an early age."
With yet another sunny day in Dargaville today and seven active cases in the community, people steadily arrived at Dargaville Hospital to be tested.
Te Hā Oranga nurse lead Naomi Walker says her organisation is up against it, covering ground as far as Kaihu and the Waipoua Forest in the north and 100km south to Pouto.
"Last week a couple of cases popped up in Pouto.
"So we were able to send a team out and provide testing and vaccinations for that community. It's very isolated so it's really good to be responsive to the community."
With an imminent relaxing of restrictions for Aucklanders, she is concerned about holidaymakers.
"The main impact is we know that people who live in Auckland love to come north, so it's scary for us and scary for the community. So what can you do to protect your whānau? Vaccination is the only solution we've got now."
About 67 per cent of Northland's eligible population are double vaxxed and more than 37,000 are yet to receive their first dose.
