Ni-Vanuatu workers copping abuse over Covid 19 outbreak

The OPAC/Seeka building in Ōpōtiki. Photo / File

A group of Ni-Vanuatu kiwifruit workers have received abuse from members of the Ōpōtiki community since news broke that some Tongan workers have tested positive for Covid-19.

Seeka chief executive Michael Franks told the Ōpōtiki News yesterday that any workers from overseas who were out in public would have had no contact with the group who had been infected.

"We have had an instance where Ni-Vanuatu people who are not even contacts with Covid-19 have suffered some abuse in town for walking around in public. They've been called out by some locals. They're not even part of the RSE group that is affected."

He wanted to assure the people of the Ōpōtiki district that if they saw Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme workers (RSEs) out in public they were not causing any risk to the community.

"Anyone who is remotely connected to the outbreak is in isolation," Franks said.

"[The virus] is contained to our Tongan RSE group who are all in isolation. None of the other groups have tested positive or shown symptoms."

As of yesterday, 13 Tongan RSE workers at Seeka's Ōpōtiki site had tested positive to Covid-19.

Franks said there are 41 people in the Tongan group who were being kept in isolation from RSE workers of other nationalities.

"We expect more positive cases in that group, but symptoms so far have been mild at worst."