Auckland stays put at Level Three but Northland moves to Level Two

                                                            Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Wellington today (Screen Grab)

Notwithstanding the criticism of two Parties in the Opposition (National and ACT) and the demand of businesses to open up, the New Zealand government has decided to keep Auckland under Alert Level Three with severe restrictions on movement of people until Tuesday, November 2, 2021.

Northland will move to Alert Level 2 tomorrow at 11.59 pm.

But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern promised Aucklanders that she will provide a ‘definite plan of action’ on Friday, October 22, 2021 and create more certainty.

Breach of regulations worrying

The decision of the Cabinet, based on the advice of Director-General Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Health officials, was based on the continued spread of the Delta Variant of Covid-19 in Auckland and the non-compliance of rules by some people have not helped.

On October 16, 2021, when the government, politicians and NGOs encouraged New Zealand to get vaccinated on what was termed ‘Super Saturday,’ a ‘Freedom Rally’ was held at the Auckland Domain where more than 1000 men and women had gathered. Among them was Destiny Church Leader Brian Tamaki.

A 28-year old man was arrested this afternoon for organising a party in Redvale in North Shore. He will appear in the Northshore District Court on Friday, October 22, 2021.

Ms Ardern told a media conference this afternoon that she understood the hardship that New Zealanders and businesses are experiencing under the lockdown conditions but warned against the risk of easing restrictions.

Vaccination remains the key

She said that Vaccination remined the key to lowering the number of cases.

“The restrictions have made a huge difference and helped us to keep case numbers as low as possible while we continue to vaccinate people. We need to keep going with both tools: our restrictions and vaccinations, because with Delta we cannot rely on just one. If we get this right, if we keep case numbers low while we vaccinate people, then it makes it easier for us to keep control of Covid while we ease restrictions in the future,” she said.

Ms Ardern said that non-compliance and violation of rules did not help the government’s efforts to lift restrictions sooner than later.

“Easing of restrictions at this point of time will not work or help in our plan of minimising Covid cases unless the rate of vaccination rises. There are Covid-19 cases across 124 suburbs in Auckland. Our Alert Level 3 rules in Auckland are the toughest restrictions in place anywhere in the OECD,” she said.

Schools remains closed in Auckland but Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins will provide further advise on Wednesday, October 20, 2021.

Relief for Northland

In announcing that Northland will move to Alert Level 2 at 11.59 pm on Tuesday, October 19, 2021, Ms Ardern said that according to health ministry officials, people who travelled in Northland have not spread Covid-19 further.

“But the situation in Waikato is different. There is a need to act with caution in the Waikato after positive cases and wastewater testing came back positive. Parts of Waikato in level 3 will remain there with a review on Friday,” she said.

According to Dr Ashley Bloomfield, about 85% of the New Zealand population will be fully vaccinated and that bookings are no longer good for forecasting since walk-in vaccinations are becoming increasingly popular.

“We have almost finalised advice on getting an alternative vaccine for people who are willing but do not want the Pfizer Vaccine. We are also expecting Pfizer to make an application for the use of a booster shot of Covid-19 Vaccine in New Zealand.

Enhanced Business Package

Ms Ardern said that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grant Robertson is working on an enhanced business support package for Auckland.

“He will announce the details on Friday (October 22, 2021),” she said.

Small and Medium Enterprises in Auckland have been hit hard and have been demanding for additional financial support for the past few weeks.

 
National Party Leader Judith Collins (Pool Photo by NZME)

Collins says there is no hope

National Party Leader Judith Collins said that the government’s announcements do not give any hope to those living under extended restrictions in Auckland.

“People were expecting some semblance of a plan about the pathway forward for Auckland. Instead, they got more of the same: announcements about announcements to come later in the week, and self-congratulation about Super Saturday. All of this on a day spent by many Aucklanders on tenterhooks, after Dr Ashley Bloomfield publicly floated the idea of Auckland returning to a hard level 4 lockdown this morning – speculation about which the government then allowed to fester all day,” she said.

Ms Collins said that the signal of a vaccination target, to be announced on Friday, was well overdue and that Aucklanders should not have to wait until the end of the week.

“The government is once again making things up as it goes along. The government is utterly bereft of ideas, having spent the first six months of this year in self-congratulation mode, happy to have the developed world’s slowest vaccine rollout and spending the Covid Response Fund not on contact tracing, saliva testing and boosting ICU treatment, but on art therapy and cameras on fishing boats,” she said.