Whakatāne District Council has 600 rapid antigen tests to help it maintain critical services in the case of a widespread outbreak of Covid-19.

People and engagement general manager Emlyn Hatch updated elected members on the implementation of the council's Covid-19 Protection Framework policy at a projects and services committee last week.

Forecasts show that between 25 and 50 percent of the workforce could potentially be away during the height of a significant outbreak.

'It is expected that a large proportion of staff will contract Covid at some point”

Following advice from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, the council has identified its most critical services that need to keep going during an outbreak as being water, waste and cemetery services.

Working practices have been developed among critical staff in these areas to minimise the risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19. These include splitting the teams into two or three bubbles using a split shift approach. He said this would mean some minor reduction in levels of service in some areas, but this was to avoid the full closure of these facilities in a worst-case scenario.

Identified staff will be added to MBIE's Critical Workforce Register and receive prioritised allocation of rapid antigen tests and PCR tests if required.

This could potentially cause temporary closures or reductions to some services, redeployment of staff to critical work and facilities such as the Whakatāne War Memorial Centre being provided to health providers for a prolonged period.

Re-establishment of these services would be a priority.

The report outlines other steps to keep staff and the public safe that have already been taken, such as requiring all employees, contractors and volunteers to be fully vaccinated.

Exemptions for contractors or volunteers can be granted by the chief executive in exceptional circumstances, such as when specialised skills are required and when the person can work remotely.

The council has had six staff members leave due to its vaccine mandate.

Further measures have included requiring vaccination passes to access indoor council facilities. To ensure the safety of customer-facing staff and to check passes, Independent Security was contracted to be positioned at the main customer service building in Commerce Street, at Te Koputu, Whakatāne's library and exhibition centre, and the Whakatāne Aquatic Centre.

Mr Hatch told the council last week that this security had now been scaled back as the customer service and library staff had become more familiar with the process. The security remained at the aquatic centre for the time being.

All staff who are able to work from home have been required to since January 28, including all office-based staff at the Fisher Quay building, Concordia House and some depot staff. Meetings are being held over Teams or Zoom as much as possible. Covid-19 Special Leave will be approved on a case-by-case basis for staff who have contracted Covid but have exhausted their sick leave.

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