Māori health specialists are concerned the Ministry of Health hasn't accurately collected Covid-19 data that will show the impact on Māori.
One-hundred-and-fifty-eight people showed up at the Kaikohe testing station on Sunday, with another 133 coming through on Monday. Photo: Supplied
Sources say the ministry has just finished designing the data collection and analysis system it needs to make a decision about whether to come out of lockdown on 23 April.
National Māori pandemic group Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā says it's had no input, and doesn't know of any Māori who have.
"We believe it was premature of the Ministry of Health to announce last week that Covid-19 is potentially reaching its peak in Aotearoa," it said in a statement.
"We question how the Ministry of Health knows this is the case for Māori communities. Without the accurate data and analysis, we believe it was a very unwise statement to make, particularly for Māori."
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP - don't show up at a medical centre
It did not know the source and quality of the data being collected for confirmed cases or how ethnicity data was being collected.
"This means that we don't have a complete picture of what is happening in Māori communities or an understanding of the likely and predicted footprint of Covid-19 into Māori communities."
Health data specialist Andrew Sporle said he was furious.
"All the other flu epidemics have gone through, have had a massive impact on our people, with death rates of 2.6 to seven times that of non- Māori," said Sporle, of Ngāti Apa, Rangitāne, Te Rarawa and deputy director of the Healthier Lives National Science Challenge.
See all RNZ coverage of Covid-19
"Now they're preventable deaths, and in order to get a handle on that and prevent those avoidable deaths, we need rapid data systems that are focused on equity."
Sporle said all Māori health specialists he knew had made themselves available to the ministry to help with data and planning.
"We haven't heard anything as yet."
The ministry has not responded to requests for comment about Māori advisors.
