Level 3 brings a Touch of normality
Bay residents take break from staring at four walls, hit the streets
Residents appear to be making the most of level 3 freedoms in Tauranga, enjoying the sunshine and heading to the beach – but is everyone following the rules?
Tauranga City Council reported alert level 3 traffic flows were about 64 per cent of pre-covid levels.
A bus driver believed many people on the roads “don’t need to be”.
The bus driver, who spoke on the condition he was not named, said there was “steady” traffic yesterday.
Working at level 4 was relaxing because less traffic was on the roads: “It was like being on holiday without being on holiday,” he said.
Driving at level 3 was a “tricky adjustment after two weeks of quiet”.
Pa¯pa¯moa mum Yvonne Pietersen was enjoying the sunshine at Mount Main Beach with her two children yesterday morning.
“It actually felt like a normal day. “It was a beautiful day, so I thought we would make the most of it.”
The roads were “very busy” compared to a few days ago in alert level 4, she said.
“I have noticed the drive down was a lot busier than it has been lately.”
As far as traffic gets, it is sort of almost inbetweenlevel2and level3.thereisa fair amount of traffic out there. Jason King
She said most beachgoers were practising safe social distancing.
Pietersen, who only moved to the Bay of Plenty with her family early last month, was hopeful the region would move down alert levels soon.
Tauranga City Council general manager of community services Gareth Wallis said city roads were busier this lockdown compared with the last year’s.
“Around the region we saw about 8 per cent more traffic this alert level 4, and 6 per cent more traffic in alert level 3 so far.”
Wallis said despite Mauao’s tracks being closed, the council had noticed a number of people accessing it at alert level 3.
“When we see people breaching the barriers to access Mauao we notify the police.”
The Wave Cafe co-owner Grace Sims said some customers seemed more “relaxed” about wearing face masks but were still keeping a safe distance from each other. She put that down to the business being outdoors.
“Because we are open-air and not
a cafe, some people are less inclined to wear a face mask.”
She said many were stopping by for a coffee or icecream while walking or before heading out for a surf.
Since reopening, Sims said morning had started out quiet, with activity picking up throughout the day.
“I think people are enjoying slower starts to the day. But it is definitely getting busier throughout the day.”
Rowe Motors operations manager Jason King said company drivers had reported an increase in traffic since the shift to level 3.
“As far as traffic gets, it is sort of almost in-between level 2 and level 3. There is a fair amount of traffic out there.”
Police were not able to provide data about compliance in level 3 in the Bay of Plenty.
University of Waikato professor of population health Ross Lawrenson said it was important for people to exercise during lockdown but it needed to be done sensibly.
“It’s a matter of not going too far from your home and not contacting with other people, especially if you’re without a mask,” he said.
“If you’re putting yourself at risk and [hurt] yourself so that people need to come and rescue you, that’s not a great scenario. People need to think sensibly.”
Lawrenson thought there was no chance the Bay of Plenty would move to level 1 before going to level 2.
“The test will be when we go to level 2 and we’ll need to be sure there’s no risk of community transmission before we do that.”
Tauranga clinical psychologist Dr Dianne Lees said temptation — to, for example, stretch or breach lockdown rules — is a common desire that challenged everyone; however, it can be controlled by what we tell ourselves.
The psychology behind this is the shifting of the focus from ourself to the wider community and understanding our thoughts drive our feelings and feelings drive behaviour.
“If our thoughts are around our personal desires and frustrations we’re likely to feel resentful and entitled,” she said.
“These feelings drive us to behaviours that may break Covid-19 rules and put us all at risk.”