COVID-19 Updates

At 6am on Sunday 28 February, the Auckland region moved to Alert Level 3 for seven days. The rest of the country moved to Alert Level 2 for the same period. 

Please continue to regularly check the New Zealand Government COVID-19 website for up-to-date information on alert levels and more detail on any requirements.

We would just like to remind you about some of the information available through the site:

• We know that you will want to make sure your staff and the people they are working with can access the help and support that they need.  Please remind your staff to have a look at and point people to the health and wellbeing support that is available

• The Government wants organisations to access the financial and other support that is available to manage the impacts of COVID-19 on them and their staff, including around the need to take leave or be absent from work. Please also have a look at the full range of financial support that is available

• We would also like to remind everyone about the full range of actions (not only face coverings) that people need to take to keep everyone safe.

We know that many of you are actively involved in the COVID-19 response, working with communities to provide support, undertaking testing and now, participating in the vaccination programme. Once again, we would like to thank you for everything you are doing to keep all New Zealanders safe.

You may have heard yesterday that Cabinet has made further decisions regarding its COVID-19 vaccine roll-out plan. You can access the latest information about this plan on the Ministry of Health website.

Oranga Tamariki has established a team to co-ordinate our role in the implementation of the plan. As with our response to date with COVID-19, we will be proactive in providing you with information and support as soon as we are able to.   

The Government is very aware of the important role of volunteering in our community and the impacts on volunteering from the current COVID-19 restrictions. The COVID-19 National Crisis Management Centre (NCMC) is working to provide support for organisations that rely on volunteers to carry out critical social services and also to ensure that volunteers (and the clients they support) are kept safe at this time.

The NCMC has partnered with Volunteering New Zealand and its regional network of Volunteer Centres to co-ordinate matching volunteers with organisations that have need for volunteers. See the Volunteering New Zealand site here for details.

Continuing restrictions associated with COVID-19 Alert Levels are likely to limit the availability of existing volunteers – particularly older volunteers – for several months.  A number of initiatives are being considered to expand the pool of volunteers to fill this “gap”. To assist with this, better information is needed regarding potential Alert Level impacts including on funding. A short survey of organisations using volunteers is underway. Please take a few minutes to complete the survey here.

Under Alert Level 4 and 3 there are very significant restrictions on the way businesses and organisations can operate. Please see the guidelines for community organisations working with volunteers here and ensure that you operate in line with these guidelines.

General advice regarding volunteering in the COVID-19 environment is available on the main COVID-19 website here.

In line with the kaupapa to support our whanau during this stressful time, we (Te Korimako) have set up a facebook page.

We will be providing the latest information regarding the family court (incl family violence, parenting – care and contact), youth court, district court and Oranga Tamariki. We are also looking at a weekly live question and answer session for whanau.

Visit the Te Korimako Facebook page

If you are in need of Legal Support please read our Family Law list here who may be able to assist.

Family Lawyers to assist Whānau who need urgent legal assistance