Waikato town trying to stay positive in outbreak

A Waikato town leading the region’s Covid-19 case tally is trying hard to remain upbeat but the ongoing lockdown extensions are fuelling frustration, anger and anxiety.

There were 30 community cases in the Te Awamutu area as of yesterday afternoon, the largest cluster of cases in the 83 reported for the region. The town’s rise in cases prompted three Waipā district councillors to turn the camera on themselves, making a social media video plea for people to get tested and vaccinated.

‘‘This is new for us and to be honest it was quite uncomfortable but we have to get ourselves out there in a new way,’’ deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk said.

‘‘People are angry because they want to get back to business and back to their lives but level 3 is very restrictive.

‘‘Ninety per cent vaccination is the new target and it is achievable but we want it to happen a lot sooner than Christmas time.’’

Te Awamutu councillors and cousins Lou and Andrew Brown, at ages 75 and 67, agreed they would not normally put themselves on social media. But they joined Stolwyk outside the Te Awamutu RSA to make the video ahead of the long holiday weekend. Andrew Brown said yesterday’s single positive case for the town offered a glimmer of hope. ‘‘But really we are going to need several weeks of no cases if we want to go down a level before Christmas.

‘‘I am a business owner too and all we can do at the moment is pay rent and pay wages.’’

Lou Brown, a former farmer, said the town’s rural sector also needed help upping its vaccination rates. ‘‘It is hard to get time off farm and many people, like tanker drivers, are transient so we need to find a way to reach those people as well.’’

Stolwyk was looking to set up a group to co-ordinate extra help for people struggling with their business or their wellbeing.

Kathy Kearns owns Kathy Cosmetics and Gifts and said people were mostly positive but some were frustrated by the uncertainty of week-to-week lockdown announcements. ‘‘People are over it but are trying to be positive. This will be our new reality now.’’ Kearns was selling makeup, houseplants, baked goods and coffee from the shop door.

‘‘People have been coming down, making an effort.’’

Narrativ owner Ellen Stevenson said the town’s main street had been quiet but people were adapting to shopping in the alert levels.

The store sells sustainable items for the home, family and baby, and Stevenson said click and collect orders had increased.

People were beginning to venture into town for a coffee or a bite to eat, trying to get on with life.

Stevenson said the store opened three years ago so people could visit and browse the products in person.

Lockdown restrictions had made that

impossible but the community had been supportive and spent money with local businesses when they could.

Dave Gibson Locksmith and Gun Shop owner Noah Steiner said business had been slow and people were doing a lot of whinging.

‘‘We are a locksmith and gun store, so most of our customers are Jacinda-haters and this makes it worse.’’

He said customers had been frustrated and angry about the restrictions and the Government.

Steiner said business had dropped to 20 per cent of what he was seeing before lockdown but thankfully emergency locksmith services were always needed.

There were hints of the Covid to come for Te Awamutu when wastewater samples taken in the town on October 12 and 13 both tested positive for the virus.

It was not until October 17 that a case was confirmed in Kihikihi.

Then six cases were confirmed in Te Awamutu on October 19, two on October 20, eight on October 21 and five on October 22. Seven more were reported on Saturday and one yesterday.

Multiple locations of interest for Te Awamutu are listed on the Ministry of Health’s website contact tracing map.

And vaccination data from the Ministry of Health shows how eight different parts of Te Awamutu are doing and is updated each Wednesday.

At Te Awamutu Stadium, as of October 20, 86.7 per cent had received one dose, while 69.9 per cent were fully vaccinated.

In the Fraser St area, 88.5 per cent had received one vaccine dose and 70.3 per cent were fully vaccinated, and at Pekerau 85.7 per cent had received one vaccine and 65.3 per cent were fully vaccinated.

In Te Awamutu Central, 85 per cent had received one dose and 70.7 per cent were fully vaccinated, while 80.2 per cent of people in the Sherwin Park area had one vaccine and 62.1 per cent were fully vaccinated.

In Te Awamutu North, 82.2 per cent had one dose and 63.4 per cent were fully vaccinated; and 81.2 per cent of people in Te Awamutu West area had received one dose and 61.3 per cent were fully vaccinated. In the Goodfellow Park area, 80.8 per cent had one dose and 60 per cent were double vaccinated.