Hurunui Council confident in systems should outbreak occur

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter Adam Burns:
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The Hurunui District Council has introduced a vaccine mandate for its facilities, despite it not recording vaccination details for its 187 employees and volunteers.

However, the council said its employees would be required to show their My Vaccine Pass, alongside members of the public, to access council facilities.

The council was previously not enforcing vaccine requirements at its facilities, nor for its 187 employees, contractors and volunteers, but it had been in talks with employees over an internal vaccination policy since last month.

The country's shift into the red setting of the Covid-19 Traffic Light System framework forced the hand of council bosses last week.

“It’s about everyone’s protection, we need to keep our staff healthy so they can help keep the community healthy," chief executive Hamish Dobbie said.

Dobbie said council had responded to ensure essential services could continue to be delivered "should widespread community transmission become an issue".

“Our teams will see changes within their own operations, but as far as the people of Hurunui are concerned, things will carry on as normal.”

When asked if any employees and contractors had been affected by the restrictions, Dobbie said most employees were required to spend more time working remotely.

"In addition to the requirement for vaccine passports, essential service teams have implemented their planned split into non-contact bubbles, the main office has been reconfigured to decrease occupation and maximise distancing.

"We continue to monitor the information provided about community transmission to ascertain whether there are other steps that we can take to further minimise the impact of Omicron on our staff and the services we deliver."

It was revealed last week the Christchurch City Council had let go of 13 staff due to their vaccination status.