While most Southerners have been obeying the lockdown rules, some have come under fire for flouting the law.
Police took to social media yesterday to list several breaches they had been forced to deal with over the first two days of Level 4 restrictions.
They included driving to Invercargill’s Oreti Beach for a walk, jumping on public buses simply to ride around and, perhaps the most shockingly, having ‘‘Covid parties’’.
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‘‘Planning a Covid party with your mates. NO!!,’’ police posted.
‘‘Being a responsible member of the community you live in and not tarnishing a student reputation — Yes!’’
A police spokeswoman said while most people were doing the right thing and staying home, there had been some ‘‘isolated incidents’’.
Queenstown Lakes Mayor Jim Boult criticised law-breakers yesterday after Queenstown police told him several people had already defied the rules that had been introduced to stop Covid-19.
He was told some had played frisbee golf in the Queenstown Gardens, and understood others had been drinking on the beach.
Another group had visited a dairy to buy pies — and he doubted they were all in the same living bubble.
Mr Boult, who said the farthest he had moved since the lockdown began was to his mailbox to collect his Otago Daily Times, said the longer people refused to comply with the ‘‘stay at home’’ instruction, the longer the lockdown would extend.
‘‘New Zealand is going to go through a lot of pain and suffering as a result of this lockdown.
‘‘But if we’ve got some idiots who are flouting the requirements ... they are basically giving the middle finger to the rest of New Zealand, who are observing the rules to try and get rid of this thing.’’
Otago Lakes area commander Inspector Olaf Jensen said police were disappointed with the large number of people out and about in the resort.
‘‘Police spoke with those who were out and about and provided education and information on what the Alert Level 4 restrictions involve.’’
Queenstown Lakes District Council harbourmaster Marty Black also urged people to stay home, after seeing people out on the water during the first day of the Level 4 restrictions.
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Comments
Going for a walk and outdoor exercise in your local area is apparently allowed. so frisbee golf with those people in your household bubble, within your local area seems fine to me... as is sitting at the beach if it's in your local area and no one is meeting anyone outside their bubble. It's not home detention..
Hang on a second, why is it not okay to drive to the beach, then go for a walk? Especially Oreti, it's not like there are ever many people there, so it's easy to keep a distance of 20m from other humans, let alone 2m. Maybe I'm missing something here but I thought the main goal was isolation, to stop the virus spreading?
Its fine if you can walk to the beach. For many people, driving to the beach is further than they can walk. If the car breaks down, they will have to call for help and that will break isolation.
"Hang on a second, why is it not okay to drive to the beach, then go for a walk?"
If you need to drive there then you should not be going. The advice I've seen is that you can walk to the beach but if you need to drive then it's too far and not local.
There are often valid reasons to drive. Eg I could easily walk to local beach. But my old dog who is arthritically very slow would struggle. So we drive there so my young dog can stretch his legs, not go bonkers and beserk in house. And old dog also gets some nature. And the PM has said it's ok.
I heard about a young boy walking his dog beside a park. Some concerned citizen yelled and told him off. He went home in a very upset state. He was just walking his dog at a park that had a slide and swing in it. Yes be vigilant to stop people endangering us all. But be kind, also, people.