Life’s a breach for some
The rules of alert level 3 will be enforced, says PM, as police take action after 104 lapses
One of New Zealand’s popular burger chains has been reprimanded after hungry customers jostled for orders after lockdown restrictions were eased.
Officials have been kept busy in the shift to alert level 3 with 104 breaches recorded as Kiwis rushed out to embrace the move from four weeks of lockdown.
One fisher who tried his luck — and flouted rules which still limit the use of powered craft — came to grief in lively surf at Orewa (above).
Police said 21 people had been prosecuted, 71 warnings issued, and there had been 12 youth referrals.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had seen photographs of people gathering outside fast-food outlets and Government officials had reached out to businesses to help them stop such congregations.
The rules of alert level 3 would be enforced, she said. She mentioned an Auckland BurgerFuel store and said: “We have had confirmation from officials this morning they have been directly in contact with the head office of that operation.”
Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield said the overall message was still the same: “Stay home, save lives.” Bloomfield said he asked those businesses to consider how to maintain physical distancing, adding that non-compliant premises could still be closed.
BurgerFuel said crowd controllers would work outside its 56 New Zealand stores after the incident at its Glenfield outlet. The company admitted that “major volumes of orders following five weeks of no operation resulted in some stores struggling to control crowds at peak collection times” on the first day of alert level 3 on Tuesday.
Other measures to keep customers in line would included limits on online orders and staff training to “ensure we are operating in adherence with the Government’s guidelines”.
Under the rules for alert level 3, takeaway outlets can operate only if they have pre-ordered contactless pick up or can provide home delivery.
McDonald’s says it has reminded Uber Eats and other services collecting deliveries from its stores to observe the required two-metre social distancing rule after another photo circulated showing 13 men, apparently delivery drivers, waiting to collect orders outside McDonald’s in Grey Lynn at 3pm. A spokesman for McDonald’s said the Grey Lynn restaurant was “by some margin the biggest restaurant for Uber Eats in the country”. “While we have developed new physical distancing and contactless service procedures, and restaurants had traffic management plans in place, the volume of customers definitely caused some challenges when we reopened on Tuesday,” he said.
“At some restaurants we had third-party delivery drivers congregating, waiting for orders. We had signage in place and restaurant managers asked drivers to observe social distancing, but in some cases this was ignored.
“We have spoken with our delivery partners and asked them to remind their drivers of distancing protocols.
“And we have taken additional steps with security and signage at our restaurants.”