Rice for 40,000 food parcels
Thirty-nine glorious days is how long it has been since Wairarapa had a new Covid-19 case. In Auckland the number is none.
A Stuff data analysis shows where the country’s hot and cold Covid spots are.
Only Auckland, Counties Manukau, Waitemata¯, and Waikato have had cases in the past five days. Two of the new cases confirmed yesterday were from Auckland. The other was from Waikato.
Add Nelson Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay to that list and you get the places that have had a new case in the past two weeks.
In Wellington the magic number sits at 21. In Christchurch, it is 17. Sitting at 39 days, Wairarapa is leading the pack. Hutt Valley and West Coast are close behind on 36-a-piece.
Carterton Mayor Greg Lang said Wairarapa had the dubious honour of having the first likely case of community transmission of the virus which spurred the community to action. ‘‘We hit the ground running,’’ he said.
He would be keen to see some sort of regional – or even lower North Island bubble – if government rules allowed that. The fact that Wairarapa only had three or four roads in and out would make a regional bubble easy to police, he said.
South Wairarapa Mayor Alex Beijen said the region’s low numbers – it has had just eight confirmed or probable cases – were a mixture of luck, a low population, isolation, and good management.
It did not appear the Government was keen on regional bubbles but, if he saw Wellington numbers start to rise, he would be eager to isolate from the capital.
Wellington City councillor Fleur Fitzsimons, who has the public health portfolio, said Wellington’s long, clear run was thanks the efforts of residents and healthcare workers. ‘‘I think consideration of a regional bubble is premature at this stage.
Fleur Fitzsimons Wellington City councillor
‘‘A regional bubble would have a number of complicated administrative and logistical matters that would need to be addressed before it could be implemented.’’
Tu¯ Ora Compass Health medical director and Covid clinical lead Chris Fawcett said the whole Wellington region tested at high volumes early on. Wairarapa had the highest test volumes.
General practices moved quickly to virtual and tele-health appointments, which kept people away from medical centres.
When Wellington businessman Monty Patel heard that foodbanks across the region were crying out for supplies, he knew he was in a position to help.
His donation of more than 22 tonnes of brown basmati rice has the potential to be the staple ingredient of tens of thousands of meals for hungry families across the region.
Patel owns the Tulsi Indian restaurant chain and a Wellingtonbased food manufacturing business and said he ‘‘felt in his heart’’ that this was the right time to give back.
‘‘I thought as a Kiwi and someone who always wanted to do something for my community, this was a good opportunity to do something as this was a bad time for people who needed help.’’
He heard through one of the charities that some families were trying to squeak through the weekend with no food and their food parcels were sorely appreciated when they came at the start of the week.
It really touched him, and he encouraged other Wellington companies to reach out to charities.
The rice would be worth more than $100,000 if purchased at the supermarket and was distributed into 40,000 food parcels.
With the help of O¯ ha¯riu MP Greg O’Connor the rice has been finding its way into the hands of charities across the Wellington region.
‘‘I took it upon myself to call up the agencies and foodbanks in Wellington and got it out.’’
When Wairarapa-based Labour MP Kieran McAnulty heard there was some rice going he put his hand up for foodbanks in his area.
‘‘I think consideration of a regional bubble is premature at this stage.’’
‘‘I was sort of like a kid at a party who had nothing and noticed another kid who had a bag of lollies and just flogged some for himself.’’
Masterton Foodbank coordinator Lyn Tankersley said the donation came at just the right time because they had always received a lot of support from local supermarkets but pasta supplies were low over lockdown.
‘‘The rice has been fantastic and so needed at this time.
‘‘As we have been distributing a lot more parcels we are getting more feedback and people have been so appreciative. Some have told us they just wouldn’t have been able to get through without it.’’
The foodbank volunteers take a couple of cups of rice from the 20-kilograms sacks and put around 500g in a bag to go into each food parcel.
Through the Wairarapa network they have managed to get the rice bags to all the towns and have some going to Eketahuna soon.