Hongi and church rituals on hold

The Maori hongi and the traditional Catholic communion are among the centuries-old traditions being put on hold amid fears over a global swine flu pandemic.

Speaking with a cold yesterday, Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene said she would not hongi the pressing of noses in greeting for the time being.

"People do have to be a lot more careful at a time like this and it is a good point to make," Katene said.

Maori often hongi, rather than shaking hands, several times a day whenever they meet.

"Whanau should be taking care ... we need to make sure that we're not spreading germs," Katene said.

"People are a lot more careful when they're sick that they don't do it (hongi)."

Maori Party co-leader and Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia said tangata whenua needed to be on the alert for flu symptoms.

"We must be alert to the vulnerability of our neighbours, our whanau and our communities to what we might otherwise dismiss as seasonal flu," Turia said.

"The Tamiflu antiviral medicine is available to all age groups and I'd seriously suggest that people who have chest, coughing and fever problems go straight to their doctor."

Maori should be considerate of others in deciding whether to go to hui if they were sick.

The 1918 influenza epidemic killed between 1130 to 2160 Maori people - five times the European rate, Turia said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's Catholic bishops issued new restrictions yesterday banning parishioners from receiving communion wafers on the tongue, communion wine from the chalice and from shaking hands at the sign of peace at masses.

The bishops, meeting in Palmerston North, urged the measure as a precaution.

A statement on the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch website said: "The bishops emphasise that ceasing these actions is a precautionary measure only and hope that they will not have to take stronger action. An update will be issued by the bishops if stronger action is needed and advice will be given when these actions can be resumed."

- © Fairfax NZ News