A team of more than 50 redeployed Auckland Council library staff have begun making welfare calls to thousands of Auckland’s most vulnerable residents as part of Auckland Emergency Management’s Covid-19 response.
The library staff are making calls to more than 15,000 older New Zealanders living alone, beginning on April 7, following a request for assistance from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Auckland Emergency Management and Auckland Council said in a joint statement.
"It’s really important when we’re going through an unprecedented lockdown that we reach out to older people who are isolated and check out how they are," Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said.
"We are contacting more than 15,000 Auckland residents over the age of 70. Most live on their own and don’t have online access, which increases their isolation.
"Our library staff, not able to do their normal jobs because of the Covid-19 lockdown, are enthusiastic about being able to help others. They are taking details of any challenges that residents are encountering and passing them to the Auckland Emergency Management team to help with."
The woman, aged in her 90s, died in Burwood Hospital in Christchurch.
The library staf have made more than 3700 calls since redeployment began on Tuesday, with the number expected to grow to more than 2000 per day over the coming week, Mr Goff said.
“The council will continue to deploy its staff to help with an all-of-government response to Covid-19 in Auckland.”
The team is responsible for making general welfare calls and helping people connect with MSD and Auckland Emergency Management where necessary.
"Our library teams already have required skills, empathy and experience from working closely with our communities, including some of our most vulnerable people, so when the call came through, we knew this was the perfect task for us," Auckland Council head of community libraries north & west, Darryl Soljan, said.
“Our staff leapt at the opportunity to be part of this team. Social interaction and helping people are key reasons they love their jobs; they get to use their skills to make a real difference to the lives of Aucklanders and they’re grateful to be in a position where they are still able to do so during these extremely challenging times.
“So far, the calls are being gratefully received and we’re making good progress towards checking in on all 15,000 people.”
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