Covid-19 coronavirus: New Zealand company offers you free sanitary products to handled isolation facilities

Co-founder and also chief executive of Oi, Helen Velupe, has offered free sanitary gifts to all managed isolation and isolate facilities. Photo / Supplied

Women in managed solitude will no longer risk the “indignity” of being offered a nappy in place of hygienic products thanks to a Kiwi company.

Oi, a brand new Zealand company which makes plastic-free hygienic products, has offered to provide most of 32 managed isolation and quarantine facilities with trial packs associated with sanitary products they can give to returnees.

Last week the Herald reported that a woman, whose period came during her flight from Europe, was informed she’d have to wait at least 4 hours for staff at the girl managed isolation facility to buy sanitary products for her and was offered a nappy in the meantime.

The story prompted Oi co-founder and chief executive Helen Brown to tick off one of the items on her to-do list and she has since contacted all of the isolation facilities offering to provide as many trial packs as they need for free.

The idea first occurred with her after numerous conversations with the nurses when she spent two weeks in isolation at Four Points simply by Sheraton on returning from a business trip to the United States a month ago.

Robinson said it was “absolutely appalling” a woman was offered a nappy in place of sanitary products.

“Half the people for half their lives get a period. It’s as basic a need as toilet paper and also to not have that on hand is not adequate, ” she said.

“If the Government is going to enforce managed isolation then they must front side up and provide basic necessities. inch

A Maintained Isolation and Quarantine spokesperson last week told the Herald people were expected to supply their own personal items and could order them via online shopping when they needed to.

When they were unable to do so, they could ask maintained isolation staff for help, someone said.

“Staff are committed to ensuring that people’s stay in managed isolation and quarantine is as comfortable as possible and will occasionally go out of their own way to ensure that a guest gets what they need. ”

Robinson said the offer would cost her company $1000-$2000 per month per isolation facility but the girl felt they had an obligation to ensure women were looked after.

“It’s just filling a human need, ” she stated.

The trial packs were not designed to last an entire period but were enough to tide a woman over until she could buy more.

Robinson said managed isolation was hard enough without the stress to be caught out by an unexpected time period.

“Being in managed isolation feels like you’re within jail. It is psychologically tough : it’s really tough. ”

She said the feedback from hotels had been positive along with a number had already taken up the offer.

Danika Revell, chief executive and co-founder of The Period Place, last week told the Herald she believed sanitary products should be available in every room.

“It’s hard enough being in isolation without the indignity, ” she said.