Last updated 18 May - On 25 March, 2020, a state of National Emergency was declared across the country as the Government pulls out all the stops to curtail the spread of COVID-19, and the Kuaotunu Community Emergency Response Team has therefore been activated.
The purpose of this team is to coordinate local emergency and support services representatives to ensure that relevant and up-to-date information, communication and appropriate responses are delivered effectively to the Kuaotunu, Rings Beach, Otama, Opito and Matapaua Bay communities during the Level 4 government-directed isolation period.
To help with community support efforts, please ensure your house number or surname is identified at the end of your driveway / entrance to your property (especially if you live on a private road or have a long driveway).
This page will be updated frequently - please check back often for updates.
Kuaotunu Library Update
On the advice of TCDC the Kuaotunu Library will remained closed as it doesn't have have a return box and returned books need to be quarantined before shelving.
The Kuaotunu Library Committee will keep you posted as more information comes through. In the meantime please keep your books at home.
TCDC have announced that rubbish and recycling will be collected as normal from 18 May
For the first two weeks all recycling except glass will be going to landfill while the sorting centre in Kopu is brought back online. If you’ve been storing plastic, waiting for recycling collections to resume, now is the time to put it out for collection, or take it to your nearest Refuse Transfer Station for disposal.
PLEASE NOTE
From 1 June, TCDC are asking that you only put plastics 1 and 2 in your wheelie bin. Please give them a rinse before you put them in the bin, take the lids off and throw those out (they're too small to recycle) and don't squash the containers (they're easier to sort that way).
From 15 June TCDC will be checking bin contents and informing residents if they're putting in the wrong types of plastic. After that, wheelie bins with plastics 3-7 in them won't be collected.
Read more
Goods and Services available under Level 3
With the alert level moving from 4 to 3 as from Tuesday 28 April, many local businesses in Kuaotunu are able to re-open.
See the list of local businesses that are now open
These are the latest online editions of our two local papers:
The Mercury Bay Informer (06 May edition) - read it here
The Matarangi Beach Paper (May edition) - read it here
Fancy fresh fish for dinner?
Coromandel Takeaways are delivering fresh fish to our area (Te Rerenga, Whangapoua, Matarangi, and Kuaotunu) on Tuesdays and Thursdays (between 2 and 6pm). Simply place an order on their website before 2pm on the day prior, and place a chilly bin with ice or equivalent inside your front gate before 2pm on the day of delivery.
Information from TCDC about dogs over Easter weekend:
The Kuaotunu Store's current opening hours are from 1pm to 3:30pm. They will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but will accommodate the extra demand by being open longer on Thursday afternoon.
Important Announcement from the Mercury Bay Medical Centre (MBMC)
As of the 1st of April The Doctors Surgery will merge with Mercury Bay Medical Centre – during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic and self isolation all services will be based from 87 Albert St, Whitianga (The White House).
The premises at 58 Albert St, Whitianga will be closed until lockdown is over. For all enquires please call 07 866 5911.
The Mercury Bay Medical Centre is now a Covid-19 testing site for the community of Whitianga and surrounds including Matarangi, Tairua and Pauanui. This means that anyone with respiratory symptoms consistent with COVID-19 can be tested at 87 Albert Street, Bryce Street side of the building.
PLEASE NOTE - you cannot just present to the site for testing - you need to ring 07 866 5911 and speak to the urgent Doctor that day if you feel you meet the criteria to be tested.
Times for the testing clinic are between 10am-3pm on weekdays. Due to transportation and storage issues, swabbing will only be done on the weekends if clinically urgent.
You do not have to be registered with the practice and the testing is free of charge.
If the criteria change MBMC will announce this via their Facebook page and website.
In need of support at this time?
If you are 70 or over, isolating alone, or have vulnerabilities such as health issues (physical or mental), feel free to register with the Kuaotunu Community Emergency Response team via phone 07 808 3060 or email kuaotunuemergencyresponseteam@gmail.com.
If you are a Facebook user then please join the Kuaotunu Covid-19 Support Group.
The Civil Defence emergency questionnaire that was sent out last year has been updated to capture information relevant to Covid-19.
Paper copies of the new version are available at the Kuaotunu Store, or you can complete it online here. Please complete it again even if you did so last year.
If you have any questions you are welcome to contact the local questionnaire co-ordinator, Carolyn Gibbs, on 021 2163 255 or email kuaotunuemergencyresponseteam@gmail.com.
Changes to TCDC Rubbish Collection
All rubbish will now be collected only on the old recycling days, and everything must be inside the wheelie bin.
This includes the blue council bags with the usual household rubbish which must now be placed inside the bin, not left on the road.
Blue bags put out on alternate weeks as in the past will not be collected anymore.
Any recycling – glass, paper, tins, plastic - must be placed in bags inside the wheelie bins. The bags need not necessarily be council ones. The green recycling crates are not to be used.
Anything left on the roadside and not inside a wheelie bin will not be collected.
Our next recycling/rubbish day is April 7th
See the official TCDC instructions
Medical services during the lockdown
Courtesy of the Mercury Bay Medical Centre (MBMC)
Note that as from 1 April MBMC is merging with the Doctors Surgery. Therefore all phone calls should be made to 07 866 5911.
If anyone has a fever and respiratory symptoms, or has recently travelled overseas or been in contact with someone with suspected COVID symptoms please either phone the COVID Healthline 0800 358 5453 first or phone MBMC to speak with the nurse before entering the practice.
- 24 hour emergency care is still available as usual.
- MBMC is trying to do as much as possible via telephone consultation. Of course if an urgent face to face consult is necessary, they will facilitate that.
- MBMC can fax or email your scripts directly to the pharmacy to avoid you having to travel at all.
- Please don't request medications if they are not yet due - pharmacies are swamped and they will remain open and supplies of medicine will be uninterrupted.
- To assist patients keep well, MBMC is actively promoting the influenza vaccination. A designated gazebo has been set up at the side of the surgery to help maintain social distancing from other clinic patients. Additional flu clinics have also been scheduled. Please ring to book a slot.
- For more information visit MBMC's Facebook page.
Veterinary services during the lockdown
Whitianga Vets
- Will be open during normal hours, and will provide 24 hour emergency after hours care.
- Elective and non-essential vet procedures will be delayed until the alert level drops.
- Offering a free delivery service on Fridays, until the end of May, for a bag of dog or cat food, on-going medications, or flea/worm treatments. This service includes the Kuaotunu, Matarangi, Whangapoua and Coromandel areas. To order phone 07 866 5314 or email info@whitiangavets.co.nz with your name, phone number, address, and location for the item to be left.
- For more information visit their Facebook page.
Grocery supplies during the lockdown
The Kuaotunu Store
- New business hours are from 1pm to 3:30pm.
- The Kuaotunu Store will deliver groceries to your home. Phone 866 5543.
- If you would like to pre-order and then collect at the door, please call in advance.
Four Square Matarangi
- New business hours are 9am to 6pm.
- 10 customer maximum at any one time (1 in & 1 out rule).
- Emailed orders can only be accepted if you have recently returned from overseas, are over 70 years old, are vulnerable or unwell. Phone orders cannot be accepted.
- Customers must pack their own bags/boxes.
- For more information visit their Facebook page.
Useful sources of information
Official government Covid-19 website
TCDC Covid-19 page
To report a breach of the isolation rules
If you are a Facebook user: