Despite a disconnect between the public health system and the Pacific community, vital ground work is underway to reach contacts in the Covid-19 outbreak who the system has missed.
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The Delta variant of Covid-19 makes the extensive and demanding work required to contact trace an outbreak even more difficult, and events last week found New Zealand's tracing system under immense pressure.
Around 50 percent of Covid-19 infections are from the Pacific community. Public health messaging on how people should immediately respond to the current outbreak has not always been effective in this community. Therefore the system finds itself turning to conduits within the Pacific community itself to get the message across.
Catching those who fall through the system
A Pacific health and social service provider, The Fono, is helping to reach contacts in the outbreak who the public health system has missed.
There's a range of reasons why some people may not have responded to the contact tracing efforts of Auckland health authorities, and not everyone has the same ready access to media or information sources. Communications from health authorities can be confusing and overwhelming for some people.
Harry Risale of The Fono Photo: Supplied
Where the public health system has exhausted its own options for getting a response to their communications with contacts, it can engage the help of The Fono, whose Community Finder project is taking a direct and personal approach to the job.
According to a Whanau Ora Navigator with The Fono, Harry Risale, when he goes to a house, it's with protective gear, and a cautious approach.
"Firstly I make myself known, and if they are there, then the information will be related that they have to contact public health, and they have to be in communication. It's important for the safety, not only for the individual, the family, but mainly for the whole community as well."
Risale said he tried to make sure people became aware of the outbreak situation and the risk it posed for everyone, as well as the importance of testing.
He said when it came to responding to communication about the outbreak, confusion and fear were factors that had held some people back.
"A lot of people try and contact them and they see these random numbers, and random texts.
"I made them aware that you have to get in contact with public health, they will give you the right information, what you need to do, if you need to self-isolate."
Risale said in recent days he was able to contact a household and then connect it with the health system, which resulted in a positive Covid case being identified.
"They were really happy to communicate and make sure to follow the public health advice. And if they need to be taken away to a facility, then they are willing to do so as well."
Responsiveness
A spokesperson from the Assembly of God congregations in Auckland, Jerome Mika, yesterday said they were expecting around 900 to a thousand church members to get tested.
A testing station specifically for AOG members was set up in Māngere, which is the focal point of a significant cluster in the outbreak, led by Southseas Healthcare and The Cause Collective.
Jerome Mika said the congregations have been co-operative to the call by church leaders to come get tested. He dismissed any suggestion that the church community was not being co-operative with the Ministry of Health.
"There was only 500 at that church and we couldn't track it, so we're doing the conservative and getting everyone here today and tomorrow," he explained.
Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
"People weren't resistant to getting tested and a lot of our church community have actually tested once or twice, but they've come back to ensure that there isn't any question that everyone has tested."
The Pacific community has the highest testing rate in the country to date, and an important part of that success is the people involved in contract tracing who remain essential conduits in the battle to contain the virus.
Has government engaged adequately with Pasifika?
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was pressed on whether the outbreak within the Pacific community could have been avoided if government engaged properly with the community.
"There's been communication the entire time, but of course if we're getting feedback that some of it needs to be improved, then we take onboard that feedback and will of course look within the situation to keep doing better at every turn," Ardern said.
"One thing I will say is that we do have individuals split across multiple congregations I think that has posed some complications but it's no excuse, we always need to try and do the very best we can to make sure we're getting information to those who need it as quickly as possible."