Taranaki Base and Hāwera hospitals current visitor restrictions will remain in place due to continued clinical staff shortages due to sickness and high volumes of patients.

The visitor policy includes one visitor or support person per patient at a time and no admittance of visitors if they are unwell, however the age restriction on visitors under 16 has been removed.

Whānau are an important part of a patients care, treatment and recovery, says Te Whatu Ora Taranaki’s acting chief operating officer, Katy Sheffield.

"We know that visitors and support people help patients feel well supported, so from today, visitors of all ages are welcome to see their loved ones in hospital. We are asking whānau to maintain one visitor per patient at a time where possible and to respect our visiting hours of 2pm - 8pm."

"We still need to continue to manage the risk of COVID-19 and other potential public health impacts in our hospitals. We ask visitors to please make sure they sign in at our health screening kiosks, sanitise their hands, wear a proper face mask and social distance where possible."

If anyone is feeling unwell, they are asked to stay home and connect with their loved ones in hospital via technology. Patients have access to free Wi-Fi thanks to PRIMO, so people are encouraged to get on the phone or send their loved ones a message instead to help keep our hospitals free of any extra illness.

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