MP’s update

My office is currently closed, but my team and I are working remotely to assist constituents having issues during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The biggest problem we’ve been dealing with has been linking offshore Kiwis with the right information and government agencies to help them get back home.

In the current emergency, the main thing we can do is advise and connect them to the appropriate embassy or consulate.

In the leadup to the lockdown we were busy helping businesses identify whether theirs is an ‘‘essential service’’ and how they are able to access support to stay afloat during and after Covid-19.

It’s vital that businesses survive so that they can continue to employ local people.

Workers have been very much in my thoughts. This is a time of great uncertainty and it’s been good to be able to help people clarify what is happening with their employment and wages and ensure they’re able to access government assistance.

A huge thank you to the amazing staff at our supermarkets who have never been busier and are calm and courteous, and a shout out to the customers observing the new rules.

Our police are doing a tremendous job keeping everyone safe, and of course our thoughts are constantly with the dedicated medical professionals who always work so hard for us and who are really going the extra mile now.

This is very much a time where we need to be pulling together.

Keep checking covid19.govt.nz for updates. Stay home but stay socially connected. Together we’ll get through.

Jonathan Young, MP for New Plymouth