Covid 19 Delta outbreak: Forty Te Arawa whānau members take on Covid-19 testing training

Natalie Richards and Te Ururoa Flavell going through Covid testing training. Photo / Supplied

Forty members of the Te Arawa whānau have put up their hands to undertake Covid-19 testing training in response to calls for additional testers in Rotorua.

The group have received PPE and swabbing training and spent most of Tuesday with the Lakes District Health Board's staff. They shadowed the team at the main testing station today.Lakes DHB director of equity and outcomes delivery and chairwoman of Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Pikiao Health Services Mapihi Raharuhi said the call for testers went out on Monday, with 40 whānau signed up by that afternoon.

She said the commitment and enthusiasm of the group was "inspiring".

"Increasing our testing capacity means we can test even more people and get a better understanding of the level of Covid in our community.

"With this additional Te Arawa workforce, we will be able to do pop-up testing in specific neighbourhoods to ensure we get the best understanding of local spread, to demonstrate the help we are able to provide whānau and local communities and to provide on-the-ground information and support," she said.

"Together we can do this, but everyone needs to do their bit."

With 33 positive cases in Rotorua as of Wednesday, Te Arawa Covid-19 Hub was urging people to isolate if they were a close contact and/or felt unwell, and to stay in isolation if they tested positive.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Pikiao GP and member of Te Roopu Hauora o Te Arawa Dr Grace Malcolm. Photo / Andrew Warner

Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Pikiao GP and member of Te Roopu Hauora o Te Arawa Dr Grace Malcolm said Covid posed a "real threat" to vulnerable people in the community.

"We have teams and resources to support people from a health and a welfare point of view, and to support the wider whānau if they needed.

"The impact of Covid is far wider than the positive individual and we're here to help.

"We need you to do your part and stay at home if you are positive or you are a close contact with anyone who is positive.

"It's hard sometimes – especially when we want to see our whānau, friends and neighbours or they want to see us.  If you have Covid, please stay home and let others know to stay away for their own safety."

The testing station at the Copthorne Hotel on Fenton St was open from 8.30am to 3pm every day, she said.