By Will Trafford of Māori Television
Children in a 50-strong dance troupe sent by the Government to Dubai to represent Aotearoa at the global trade fair Expo 2020 have caught Covid-19, leaving dozens stranded in the region as parents raise concern for their welfare.
Māori Television has seen email correspondence between Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta in which she raises parents' welfare worries for dancers from The Royal Family Dance Crew and Voice of Youth group, who travelled to Dubai in late January but saw their performances nixed after members tested positive for the highly contagious new coronavirus strain, Omicron.
"I have been contacted by constituents, whānau concerned with the wellbeing of their sons currently in isolation in Dubai," the correspondence reads.