National Iwi Chairs Pandemic Response Group is calling on all New Zealanders to respect the travel restrictions to slow down the spread of the current delta virus outbreak.

It is crucial the we prevent a sudden spike in infections that could overwhelm our hospitals says spokesperson Mike Smith, the best way of achieving this is for people to stay home and safe in their bubbles.

"What we do over the next days and weeks will make a huge difference to what happens over the next months into next year. The choice is either runaway infection rates or a controlled rate that allows hospitals to cope with the expected influx of patients needing specialist care," says Smith.

Lisa Tumahai, co-leader of the NICF Pandemic Response Group and Chairperson of Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu says, ”we are calling on our nations young people to lead the way by limiting their social contact with others to digital media and telephone contact. Our young people are experts at communicating using technology and we ask that they use these methods to support the call to stay safe at home in their bubbles, and if you haven’t been vaccinated yet we urge you to get your jab today.”

Ms Tumahai went on to say:

"We understand that in some areas it is difficult to police multiple routes in and out of districts and we encourage the police to work together with Iwi border protectors to support the protection of vulnerable communities and ensure police resources are not stretched too thin.”

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