Police are investigating yet another Covid-19 breach, this time a high-profile Aucklander who allegedly crossed the Alert Level 4 boundary and travelled to Queenstown.
In a statement, a police media spokeswoman said they were aware of the complaint.
‘‘Police are following up with the person involved to determine if any breach of the Health Act has occurred.’’
The Otago Daily Times was contacted yesterday morning by a person who wished to remain anonymous.
The person alleged the Aucklander had attended a gathering in the resort last weekend and had holed up at a Queenstown Airbnb property.
The person further alleged the Aucklander had been spending time with two other Queenstown residents, not isolating.
No further information was available yesterday.
Queenstown-Lakes area residents were alarmed earlier this week when it emerged a couple from Auckland had travelled to Queenstown last weekend then drove to Wanaka to go skiing.
Police allege the couple, Williams Willis (35) and Hannah Rawnsley (26), used essential worker exemptions to leave Auckland and went to Hamilton Airport, where they caught a commercial flight to Queenstown and then drove a rental car to a holiday home in Wanaka.
In the week since police approached the couple, it has become the highest-profile Covid-19 lockdown breach allegation of Auckland’s nearly month-long Delta strain outbreak.
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"High profile" !? Well obviously " high profile privelige and entitlement " were to the fore of their "thinking" . A Serious Breach of Covid Lockdown. REALLY hope our Police apply the Law and not just a paltry fine to show the error of this mindset....
The penalties need to be much higher, and they need to be adjusted to a person's wealth so that such breaches really hurt these people. Millionaires need to lose millions, billionaires need to lose billions.
Judges could take into consideration how much the penalty will sting. For one person $300 is a big hurt, they may have been on much reduced income for weeks. For another $2000 is just another holiday expense, better still if the holiday was paid by their company as "research" & comes off tax. So what would they miss, if not $$$? Time. Leisure. Status. The idea of supermarket trolley collection, give usual workers a few days off each on full pay, looks good. Orderly's gofer & apprentice in hospital, rest home. Can't sentence them to anything where they will get in the way of workers who know what they're doing, but if businesses & charities offered vacancies for free no-skill labour..........
As only the rich and privileged Aucklanders can afford to fly down to the South I believe the best punishment is they are "asked" to work on the frontline in Manakau Countdown for 6 months so they can learn about what working people have to put up with in their daily struggles. This is better than a $4000 fine. Community work at Manakau Countdown is my vote.
Manakau in the lower North Island?
They will continue to do this because they know nothing happens, no consequences so no personal responsibility. The PM's "be kind" message also extends to lockdown breakers.
"You naughty boy, please don't do it again, now hold out your wrist while I stroke it gently with a wet bus ticket."