Whanganui

An iwi collective working across four North Island regions fears there are many cases they don't know about.

The Department of Conservation has closed the Whanganui River to kayakers and canoeists on the upper and middle reaches after four paddlers tested positive for Covid-19.

The new spending will help with the management of deer and other predators at the Kaimanawa and Kaweka Forest Parks.

Covid-19 is continuing its spread into central and western parts of the North Island, with active cases now confirmed in Rangitīkei, Whanganui and the Ruapehu district.

Eleven new Covid-19 cases have been found in the rural Rangitīkei area of Marton, bringing the number of active cases in the Marton outbreak to 20.

Māori health providers are holding back on Covid-19 vaccinations for children in the face of growing anti-vaxxer protest in the wider Whanganui region.

An iwi is searching for a storage area for food and basic supplies as it prepares to support the Whanganui community through the widely expected Omicron outbreak.

A Covid-19 Māori health analyst is calling on the government to prioritise Māori and Pasifika children in the 5-11 years vaccine rollout or risk the consequences of a "brown pandemic".

Whanganui iwi Tūpoho is opening the region's first Covid-19 saliva testing clinic tomorrow, as part of a community approach it hopes will be picked up around the country.

Whanganui list MP Harete Hipango posted pictures of herself on Facebook at a rally in her electorate.

Planning will get underway to enable the tribal river wānanga the Tira Hoe Waka to go ahead in 2023 after being axed for two years running.

The Department of Conservation has made moves to fix "organisational deficiencies" highlighted by a near-fatal jet boat crash with a kayaker.

The two-week journey down the Whanganui River for the River tribes has been happening every year since 1988, but has been axed for the second year running because of the threat of Covid-19.

The outgoing Ātihau-Whanganui Incorporation chair says one of the biggest challenges facing the Māori farming organisation is the ongoing fragmentation of shares.

A Covid-19 Māori health analyst is urging Māori to "take action and work together" to reduce the impact of expected Delta outbreaks as the country begins travelling.

The move to ban the sale of tobacco to younger people has been welcomed by Ashburton health advocates but suggest more work needs to be done.

Despite having no active cases of Covid-19 in the community Whanganui woke to find itself in the red zone today.