Services geared to cope with lockdown issues
‘‘My only concern is people who arrogantly think they have a right to carry out their normal business, unless they are an essential service.’’ Inspector Dave Gaskin
‘‘[Family harm callouts] could be a cumulative effect of people being out of work, and a lot of families not being used to being shut up together without any way of letting off steam.’’ Sergeant Greg Harrison
Police will have a greater visual presence across South Canterbury during the Covid-19 lockdown, Aoraki area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin said.
‘‘We are ensuring we have enough staff in the right places to ensure the safety of the community,’’ Gaskin said.
He would not elaborate on operational matters but said ‘‘we will have a high profile through all business areas’’.
He had a stern warning for those thinking about flouting the rules.
‘‘My only concern is people who arrogantly think they have a right to carry out their normal business, unless they are an essential service,’’ Gaskin said.
Police were taking a ‘‘pragmatic’’ view that people would voluntary comply, rather than being forced to, he said.
Domestic violence
Those who work at the frontline of domestic violence are bracing for a surge in the number of people needing help, but have to work around a cut to safe house capacity.
Mid and South Island Women’s Refuge manager Dawn Rangi-Smith said they had no option but to cut capacity at their Timaru-based safe house for women and children, in accordance with self-isolation guidelines.
‘‘Our safe house will be available but on a limited capacity, so it will be caseby-case,’’ she said.
The refuge would be teaming up with Work and Income to help women who did not make the cut into emergency housing, she said.
Rangi-Smith said the refuge was prepared to handle an influx of calls.
‘‘We’re doing our best to sustain our services the way they always have been,’’ she said.
‘‘We’re still running our normal service and are fully-staffed, though people are working from home.
‘‘The office will be on limited hours with just a skeleton crew, and we’ll not be opening our office to the public,’’ Rangi-Smith said.
Aoraki policing district family intervention team member Sergeant Greg Harrison said in times of crisis, where people are cooped up together and stress levels are high, family harm callouts increase.
‘‘It could be a cumulative effect of people being out of work, and a lot of families not being used to being shut up together without any way of letting off steam,’’ Harrison said.
‘‘We believe it will increase by looking at what has happened in the past, but hopefully it won’t be a huge increase.’’
Harrison said police numbers remained strong to respond to any callouts.
For alleviating stress, he suggested people walk on their own, with those in their household, or with a dog down the street or to a park.
‘‘They’re not totally locked down and isolated in their own homes. They need to think of other leisure activities,’’ Harrison said.
Rangi-Smith encouraged women in Mid and South Canterbury in abusive situations to call 03 684 8280 or 0800 007 750.
Council services
South Canterbury’s three district councils will operate on skeleton crews in main buildings over the next four weeks, with only essential staff on site.
Timaru District Council spokesman Stephen Doran said most council staff were able to work from home and carry on their day-to-day tasks.
‘‘There are certain functions that are essential from a public point of view such as water, wastewater and rubbish collection, essential road maintenance, maintenance of public toilets, social housing and the airport,’’ Doran said.
Regular parking patrols will stop, but customer complaints will be dealt with.
Building services can continue processing, but there will be no inspections during this period and the planning department would be following the same process.
Meanwhile, a Mackenzie District Council spokesman said all staff are equipped to work from home and would be doing so during the lockdown.
In Waimate, a spokesperson said staff at the council chambers would be kept to an ‘‘absolute minimum that enables core functions to continue and this is reassessed daily’’.
No visitors for hospital
Visitors are prohibited at all South Canterbury District Health Board facilities.
The no-visitor policy will have a few exceptions including a nominated person who is supporting a terminal patient, a parent/guardian who is supporting a child, and one named support person per woman for the duration of a birth.