Tangihanga guidelines and ways to keep safe from Covid-19

Mihi to the Māori Health Directorate at the Ministry of Health for the following guidelines.

On Sunday 30 August, Aotearoa shifted to Alert Level 2 with Tāmaki Makaurau in a new Level 2.5 which has extra restrictions. These alert levels will be reviewed on 14 September.

For whānau in Tāmaki, gatherings are still limited to 10 people, or 50 are allowed for funerals and tangihanga that are registered with the Ministry of Health. Gatherings for the rest of Aotearoa will remain limited to 100 people at Alert Level 2.

When whānau travel out of Tāmaki, please be considerate and do things like:

• wear masks in public places
• consider restricting your groups to no more than ten people

Whānau travelling out of Tāmaki for tangihanga

Whānau do not have to apply for an exemption to travel between Alert Level 2 regions to either transport a tūpāpaku or to attend a tangihanga.

We do however ask our whānau in Tāmaki Makaurau to think of the following when travelling out of the region:

• If you have any cold or flu symptoms at all, you should not travel – stay at home and call your health provider to see if you should get tested.
• You must wear a face covering or mask on a plane and on public transport, and we encourage you to wear one at the airport and your destination. It’s a highly visible way of showing you are being careful and looking out for the wellbeing of others, as well as protecting yourself.
• Avoid attending gatherings with more than ten people.
• Be considerate and ensure you practice good hygiene: practice physical distancing and as always, wash your hands and cough and sneeze into your elbow.
• Keep track of your movements, using the NZ COVID Tracer app if you can.

Contact tracing

Contact tracing is an important element of our response to COVID-19. Funeral directors (or organisers of the tangihanga) are responsible to have systems and processes in place to enable contact tracing. They must also display an official  NZ COVID-19 Tracer App QR code.

As well as displaying a QR code, you must have a contact tracing register to record the details of all persons attending any part of the funeral process. This register should include:

• exact day and time the event took place
• full names of all attending the event
• one method of contact (eg, email address or mobile phone number).

If funeral directors or organisers of the tangihanga keep contact tracing records, they should be kept secure for two months and once they are two months old, they should be destroyed. The information in the register must only be used for the purpose of contact tracing and only shared with the Ministry of Health or district health boards, should this be required. Attendees should not have access to anyone else’s personal information

Read more information about getting your official QR code.

Physical distancing

We are all being asked to play our part to refrain from physical contact to prevent the spread of COVID-19. At tangihanga, we should aim to keep 1 metre physical distance where contact tracing and other public health measures are possible.

It is the responsibility of the funeral director or organiser of the tangihanga to ensure whānau can maintain physical distance in any defined space. If physical distancing cannot be guaranteed in a defined space, then the number of attendees allowed at that venue may be lower than 100 people (or 50 in Tāmaki at a registered funeral or tangihanga).

Whānau should also consider suspending hongi and harirū to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 and keep our most vulnerable whānau members safe. People who are sick with cold or flu-like symptoms should not attend tangihanga.

Serving kai

The serving of food and drink for hākari is permitted provided the venue can meet the physical distancing and hygiene requirements for food preparation and serving. This includes groupings of no more than 10 people eating together, kai should be served as individual portions and not from a buffet, and no alcohol is to be served or consumed on the premises.

It is recommended gatherings following the burial, nehunga and cremation are kept short (under two hours).

All frequently touched surfaces and objects (eg, where food is prepared and served, and kitchenware) should be thoroughly cleaned before and after each gathering. People may also choose to use disposable kitchenware to make the cleaning process easier.

For more information on funerals and tangihanga, visit our  website.