Protesters march on as cases surge
Parliament’s anti-mandate protesters squared off again with police late last night, while Covid case numbers hit another record high.
After a relatively quiet day at Parliament, more people started arriving at the protest in cars and campervans after 9pm, and were greeted by police wearing helmets and carrying riot shields.
Tensions eased late last night after briefly flaring, though a steady stream of protesters continued to arrive.
Meanwhile, booster rates appear to be lagging, with the Ministry of Health revealing 30 per cent of those who are eligible are still to get their third shot. Boosters are shown to provide a higher level of protection against serious illness or hospitalisation from the Omicron variant, which is surging in New Zealand.
Yesterday 13,606 new cases of Covid-19 in the community were recorded, and 263 people were in hospital, including five in an intensive-care or high-dependency unit.
The total number of active cases is now 52,808, among a total of 70,000 confirmed cases of the virus since the pandemic began.
There continues to be conflict over New Zealand’s handling of the outbreak, as an estimated 3000 protesters brought Auckland traffic to a standstill by marching over the harbour bridge to Victoria Park, forcing police to close southbound lanes. It was one of a series of protests against vaccine mandates organised by the Freedom and Rights Coalition, founded by Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki.
Police tried to deter protesters from crossing the bridge but said they did not try to stop them so as not to escalate the situation.
Lana Matkovskaya was painting a banner as I Want To Break Free by Queen played over the park. Her 8-year-old son has been vaccinated, but she wasn’t happy about it.
‘‘We don’t want your kids having the vaccine,’’ she said. ‘‘My son already has it because he had no choice. It’s just not fair. Our body belongs to Jesus, not the Government.’’
Meanwhile, as Parliament’s protest is set to enter its 20th day, the Ministry of Health has warned it is a potential superspreader event, after protesters began turning up at hospitals.
The ministry said hospitals across the country had reported visits from people who had been at the protest before travelling home, and urged anyone who had cold and flu-like symptoms to get tested and isolate.
But a bizarre theory about the reason for some people at the protest feeling sick appears to be doing the rounds, after claims a radiation weapon was being pointed at the crowd. It was not clear how many of the protesters bought into the theory, and while some were pictured wearing foil hats, others claimed the garb was a parody.
Numbers had been expected to grow on day 19 of the occupation at Parliament grounds, as protesters rejected reports of sickness and squalor at the camp.
Police earlier warned anyone planning to travel to Wellington to join the anti-mandate occupation over the weekend to ‘‘think again’’.
They cited the unsanitary nature of the occupation site, the aggressive behaviour of some protesters ‘‘and the increasing lack of control displayed by the protest organisers’’.
The day saw fresh clashes between police and the protesters, and police said officers had been spat at during ongoing skirmishes, requiring them to be seen by paramedics as a precaution.
Two of the protesters, however, found a silver lining, and got married in front of the large crowd.
The groom told the crowd he and his bride had been together for three years, engaged for two, and had their wedding cancelled several times during that period.
He said they were both unvaccinated, so had been unable to get married at a registry office.