'The Covid guy': Facebook group by Whangārei teenager keeps thousands of Northlanders in the loop

Eighteen-year-old Ben Woodgates from Whangārei is running the Covid-19 Northland Facebook group with more than 11,800 followers. Photo / Tania Whyte

A teenager has taken it upon himself to keep Northland in the know when it comes to Covid-19.

Eighteen-year-old Ben Woodgates from Whangārei has launched his own Facebook group to provide Northland-relevant information, including case and vaccine numbers as well as locations of interest, to more than 11,800 followers.

Woodgates started his project back in high school at the beginning of the pandemic when he was still 16.

Two years on, the Whangārei Boys' High School graduate is still posting daily updates, saying most of it has become muscle memory.

"I began sharing local news stories on my Instagram story, to try to keep others in the loop," Woodgates said.

"When Covid-19 came along in the first half of 2020, I was quick to jump on to it and share the latest with my peers.

"Although we would never have expected the magnitude of how it would soon impact our everyday lives, most of us did think it could grow into something big."

Woodgates was soon known as "the Covid guy" among his friends and created his Facebook group Covid-19 Northland in April that year.

After initially only sharing Government posts, Woodgates started to write his own blurbs extracting Northland-specific information for his followers.

While Woodgates describes his project as "quite a big job" at times, he has managed to squeeze in a 1pm update every day no matter what he is doing.

"Most of my teachers knew of the growing responsibility I had and were happy for me to quickly get it done – and some others didn't quite understand.

"Since finishing high school in November, I've been working almost full time at The Warehouse Whangārei over summer. I've had to try to fit in my 1pm updates during work, timing my breaks accordingly."

He said while he felt a lot of responsibility with thousands of people waiting for his update every day, managing the group has always been fun for him.

Woodgates takes a lot of enjoyment in engaging with people who comment and answering their questions.

Woodgates initially liked photography and eventually developed an interest in journalism and reporting. Photo / Tania Whyte

For Woodgates, the success in his Covid-19 update group lies in the fact that it is run by a local for locals and that he has been consistently sharing and updating his posts.

"The group has become a community. It's now a place where locals can go to ask their Northland specific questions and give their Northland specific thoughts."

He said it is important to him that people can have discussions in his group because other official Facebook pages don't allow comments.

"I've always been on the side of freedom of speech. During the early days, I tried to keep it as open as I could and not remove many comments. But obviously, there is some stuff that is straight-up misinformation.

"A lot of the time now people can give their opinion, no matter what side, and then other people will respond to that. Most of the time quite respectfully and in a constructive way."

One of the biggest challenges for Woodgates are the discrepancies in the reporting between the Northland District Health Board and the Ministry of Health.

He describes a "disconnect" between both agencies and that he would often find himself in "uncomfortable situations" because he would publish something from one source that doesn't line up with what the other organisation says.

Since Covid-19 information has become more complex and because Facebook has hidden Woodgates' group from search results for most users, he started an email newsletter at the beginning of the year.

"So far, I've had a very good response to this, with over 1000 subscribers already signed up to stay informed. Many people don't want to dig through Facebook, they want to be delivered quietly to them."

His project has opened some doors for the up incoming journalist who will be heading off to the University of Waikato this year to study for a Bachelor of Communication: community organisations, radio stations,

Woodgates has no plans to stop doing his Covid updates any time soon.

Record number of daily cases in Northland

And if you followed Ben Woodgates Facebook page you would've seen a record number of new daily Covid cases for Northland on Tuesday.

The Northland District Health Board reported 38 new cases in the region. They were in Taipa Bay/Mangōnui (1), Kerikeri (24), Kaikohe (1), Moerewa (1), and Whangārei (11).

Forty-three cases were reported in Northland, according to the Ministry of Health's 1pm statement. The district health board acknowledged the discrepancies and said the ministry was reconciling the two databases later this week which would then address the difference in reported cases.

There were 744 new Covid-19 community cases across the country on Tuesday. The majority in Auckland and Waikato.

Forty people were in hospital with the virus. No one was in an intensive care or high dependency unit.

There were 226 active cases in Northland, none of whom were in hospital. A further 119 people have recovered from the virus and were released from isolation. Overall, the region has recorded 345 cases since October 22 last year.

In a statement from Te Kahu o Taonui, Northland Iwi Chairs, the group said the community would need to learn to live with Covid-19 and wanted to ensure whanau, hapu, iwi and hapori were well-equipped with the right tools to do so.

Te Kahu o Taonui lead chairman Harry Burkhardt encouraged whanau to protect each other through vaccination.

"The vaccine is safe and offers protection not only to your tamariki but the entire household," Burkhardt said.

"The higher our vaccination rates, the higher our chances of keeping safe.

"Research and discuss vaccination of your tamariki within your whanau and please talk to your GP or hauora worker if you have concerns or questions."

Meanwhile, a case of Covid-19 had been identified at Kerikeri High School.

Parents were notified in an email sent by principal Elizabeth Forgie and associate principal Mike Clent at 5.30pm on Monday.

They said the student was at school on Thursday and Friday last week, before showing symptoms or testing positive, and subsequently followed the correct procedures.

Parents of all students identified as close contacts were contacted directly on Monday afternoon.

Any children whose families had not been contacted was not considered a close contact and could still come to school, which remained open.

Kerikeri High joins a growing list of schools with cases of Covid-19.

They include Whangārei Boys' High, Oromahoe School, Hikurangi School and Kerikeri Primary School. At Oromahoe, a rural school south of Kerikeri, all students were sent home last week and lessons are now being conducted online.

Omicron is also hitting Northland businesses.

BP Kaeo, for example, had to close on Monday because most staff in the family-run business were in isolation. The service station doubles as a store, a bakery and a courier depot.

There are no current Northland locations of interest.