Taranaki Easter weekend proves different for all
Jacqui Paterson’s 20th Easter Sunday Service wasn’t exactly what she expected – the Taranaki Cathedral leader delivered it from the comfort of her home study into a computer camera.
Paterson was one of the tens of thousands of people in the region who experienced a very different Easter because of the coronavirus lockdown.
Over the weekend, the number of deaths in New Zealand due to Covid-19 rose to four and the total of confirmed and probable cases hit 1330. However, only 18 new confirmed and probable cases were announced yesterday and the number of recoveries hit 471.
Taranaki has had no new Covid-19 cases since April 1.
Paterson, who has recently taken up the role as co-leader of the Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary, said not running a service in a church with people was a first for her.
‘‘When you’ve got no eye contact and you’re looking into a camera it’s different,’’ she said.
But, even though she did not know how many were watching, she was glad she could still take the service.
‘‘It’s amazing how adaptable we can be.’’
While the Taranaki Cathedral has been running online services for a few weeks, Easter Sunday is usually one of its biggest.
Paterson, who has been running the services since 2001, said some people travel home over the long weekend and have a family tradition of going to church.
‘‘There’s that sense of loss on a day like today.’’
For New Plymouth Police, it was a steady weekend of minding lockdown conditions across the district.
For supermarkets, the busy Easter Weekend buying carried on to an extent, Pak n Save New Plymouth owner Peter Melody said.
At its peak on Thursday the line outside Melody’s supermarket was 80 people, and while it only reached a peak of about 30 in line over the weekend, it had been ‘‘pretty full on’’.
And while ‘‘Easter is not a normal situation’’, this year’s was even more different.
Melody said while people were usually shopping and stockpiling for a trip to Taupo¯ , this time they bought comfort food for a weekend at home.