20 August 2020

Kia ora koutou katoa,

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and coping with these challenging times. Talking to friends and colleagues I can see how stress can build. It is not necessarily a single event but the effect of lots of little things together. Please take care of yourselves and remember there is health and wellbeing support available.

There has been a lot of new information released over the last two days and I have summarised the key things you have been asking about.

Food and financial support

We know from discussions with ethnic communities in Auckland that a number of people are struggling financially. Help is available for those in difficulty including foreign nationals. Further information is available at the COVID-19 website. This includes details of where people can get food if they need it, lists of foodbanks and a new chart to help people find where food support is available.

There is plenty of support available so please encourage people to reach out for help if they need it.

Immigration and visas

Immigration New Zealand has published updated COVID-19 information on its website. This covers the current situation with visas and visa extensions.

Testing and treatment for COVID-19 is free

We have heard that some foreign students were turned away from COVID-19 testing centres because they did not have a National Health Index (NHI) number. The NHI is a unique reference number that the majority of New Zealanders have. It is there to help health providers quickly identify people so they don’t have to keep repeating their details. It is something testing centres typically ask for. But anyone with symptoms should and can get tested.

In New Zealand, publicly funded COVID-19 related care – including diagnosis, testing and treatment – is provided to anyone who requires it, who has symptoms. This is irrespective of citizenship, visa status, nationality or level of medical insurance coverage.  All care, including assessment and treatment, is free of charge to the person. Please reassure the communities you work with and represent that everyone can get tested and, if needed to be treated for COVID-19 for free.

Rules for running a business under Alert Level 3

All businesses must now display the NZ COVID Tracer QR code for each business location it operates from. More information, including the Golden rules for business at Alert Level 3 can be found on the COVID-19 website. There are also details of the financial support available for businesses, including the Resurgence Wage Subsidy scheme.

Travelling into/out of Auckland

I know there have been some questions around travel and what people are allowed to do. The COVID-19 website has clear guidelines on how people can travel safely and the rules on entering or leaving Auckland.

Keeping up to date with the latest information

The COVID19.govt.nz website remains the place to go for the latest public information on COVID-19. It is updated every day and the team also produces a daily newsletter which you can sign up for on the website.

I will finish by reminding everyone that we are here for you. There is a lot of support available from the government and other organisations. This is great news. But it means things can feel hard to navigate for some. So please get in touch with us if you need help. Below is a list of our Regional Managers.

Northern Region (upper North Island)
Nandita Mathur - 027 299 8031

Central (central and lower-North Island)
Natasha Narayan – 027 268 5153

Southern Region (South Island)
Shane Whitfield – 029 200 4625

You can also contact us by email at ethnic.communities@dia.govt.nz

Thank you to everyone who has raised issues and given us feedback so far. We are in contact with our partner agencies across Government every day and we will keep sharing your needs and thoughts.

Take care of yourselves, your loved ones, and your communities.

Ngā mihi nui
Anusha Guler
Executive Director, Office of Ethnic Communities