Aucklanders flee city lockdown
Police have been turning away a number of vehicles at Auckland’s borders with people who were trying to visit friends or to get to a holiday home.
Every vehicle that entered and left the city yesterday was being checked after Auckland went into Covid-19 alert level 3 lockdown on Wednesday.
“We need to validate that people have a reason for passing through on either direction, there’s permission to pass through Auckland if you need to in order to get home for instance,” Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told RNZ.
Coster said police have been “comfortable” with compliance at the moment, and most people have also been patient and understanding.
“The officers [at the checkpoints] will assess the situation against the rules but we have to be pretty careful clearly that we don’t allow people to just come through if they don’t meet the requirements.
“There’s judgment that needs to be exercised . . . we have pretty firm controls in place. Obviously we need to keep freight moving and we have to make sure that the supplies Auckland needs get through.
“Most people are coming through with some kind of evidence that they have a reason to pass.”
Police were looking at increasing their presence in ThamesCoromandel after a big influx of Aucklanders because of the Super City’s level 3 lockdown.
Mayors in popular holiday spots have noticed an obvious increase in the number of people in their patch; Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie describes her area as “humming”,
while Ruapehu¯ Mayor Don Cameron said there were a lot more people around.
Far North Mayor John Carter is urging people to respect their local community and only visit if they’re not showing any signs of illness.
Police yesterday set up roadblocks north and south of Auckland on several arterial routes, stopping people to ensure they were only leaving for legitimate reasons.
Traffic was heavy but there weren’t any reports of any significant crashes.
Goudie earlier said she hoped those heading to her patch would heed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s advice and keep up their personal hygiene.
She also hoped people didn’t bring it with them given the Coromandel had the highest over-65 population in the country.
She said yesterday that district was now a hive of activity and busy like a public holiday.
“It’s like Labour Weekend,” she said, noting busy areas included Thames, Whitianga and Whangamata¯.
She’d been told police had seen a big increase in Aucklanders leaving the Thames-Coromandel area on Wednesday.
Given that influx, police would now be looking to increase staff on the peninsula.
“The police are gearing up because of the influx of people. They’re actually putting more bobbies on the beat.”
She said iwi were also in consultation with all developments which would also cover off any movement to higher alert levels as well as testing for Covid-19 in the community.
The has also learned that a Waikato police officer is now in selfisolation after pulling over a vehicle being driven by a member of the Auckland family who has tested positive for coronavirus.
Police are understood to now be working with the Ministry of Health in determining where else the vehicle stopped on its journey.
The had put questions to police about the officer and staffing in the Coromandel.
Meanwhile, in the Ruapehu¯ district, Mayor Don Cameron said although he hadn’t heard of
Aucklanders specifically descending on the area, he wouldn’t be surprised as there were plenty of people around.
“We are not surprised and suspected that was going to happen. Obviously the weather is going to be good for the weekend and people have undoubtedly escaped.
“If you’re an Aucklander you would want to get out of there if you could so it’s a matter of making sure that people keep themselves safe.”
However, locals were unimpressed with the amount of outof-towners returning to their holiday homes during the previous lockdown, and he expected a similar, if not worse, reaction if it happened again.
“The last time we had people isolating in their holiday homes and that annoyed a lot of people.
“I would say the second time around you would be lucky to get to your home.
“Half the homes we’ve got in the south are owned by people outside [the district]. There was tension around it last time and I would guarantee that iwi will be far more vigilant this time.”
He said it was possible many Aucklanders were already there but he was meeting iwi today to discuss the issue.
He said the council was liaising with police and local iwi about possible road closures if alert levels went up and the amount of community transmission increased.
“Speaking with police yesterday, I think what they’re more expecting is communities themselves will be demanding that areas area sealed off to protect the community and particularly where there are a high number of Ma¯ori population.”