The Māori health workforce is battling fatigue and burnout as Māori Covid-19 case numbers continue to rise.
For one team in the South Auckland suburb of Māngere, checking up on one another has never been so important as the 12-week outbreak continues, with no signs of abating.
“It's a long time to sustain jumping into PPE gear, needing to make sure that you're decontaminating before you go home to your own whānau," Turuki Healthcare's Renee Muru-Barnard said.
“It’s taxing - it weighs a lot on us.”
Health workers are unsure how they’ll cope with restrictions potentially easing in Auckland this week.
“We've got to balance that with our kaimahi (employees),” Muru-Barnard said.
“We don't sort of see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Kaimahi in West Auckland are also feeling the exhaustion after testing 63,000 people and vaccinating a further 115,000 and counting.
“Some of us, we're doing long, long hours but again, this is about the kaupapa and what we've got ahead of us,” Te Whānau O Waipareira's Irirangi Mako said.
Mako is rotating staff into different roles to give them some variety, even playing dress up to lift their spirits.
“There's burnout and sometimes you get a little bit bored if you're just doing the same thing so we acknowledge that our kaimahi are tired,” she said.
Northland iwi are also feeling the heat as they work around the clock to protect vulnerable members of the community.
“It's seven days a week and I can see a lot of our Māori providers are mobilising. We are working in the evening time and we maintain our business as usual,” Ngātiwai Trust Board CEO Huhana Lyndon said.
Associate Health Minister Peeni Henare is confident the Government is providing enough support, but those on the front line are concerned about the workload in the months to come.
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