It looked to me like the Government was something like “afraid of the political backlash if it left Auckland in lockdown”, and appeasing Auckland is part of the reason for keeping the rest of the country in level 2 when there is no Covid cases anywhere else apart from a handful in Tokoroa.
But I don’t think the Government “is now letting the rest of NZ do it’s dirty work for it”.
Response from the rest of the country has been mixed.
Stuff: Auckland visitors welcomed back to Queenstown and Christchurch
Queenstown businesses say they are thrilled to welcome Auckland visitors back to the region after a quiet few weeks.
Air New Zealand had seven direct flights scheduled to land in Queenstown on Monday bringing thousands of visitors to the region.
Aucklanders rushed to book holidays in the resort following Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that level-three lockdown, which prevented domestic travel from the city, would be lifted on Monday.
Queenstown Lakes mayor Jim Boult said the arrival of Aucklanders back in Queenstown was fantastic, from an economic point of view.
“Auckland is our largest single market by a country mile, and we definitely need to keep our economy going as hard as we can.
“It’s great to see them here,” he said.
Some Aucklanders headed for Christchurch where Marissa Palmer, 34, said a small number of people were not following social distancing rules at Auckland Airport.
“They’re just simple rules … it’s not rocket science,” she said.
Simple rules? I’m not clear on what the current rules are.
Restrictions of people from Auckland like above Taupo running race example are obviously happening, and there are a lot of concerns about a surge in internal travel from Auckland around the country.
Actually Jacinda Ardern has asked Aucklanders not to attend mass gatherings elsewhere in the country, but in some cases this seems to be being ignored.
NZH: Aucklanders heading to Queenstown for tech conference
A conference being held in Queenstown this week includes at least one Aucklander as a guest, despite Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s call for people from the city to avoid mass gatherings.
It comes amid concern of Covid-19 spreading from Auckland, and with memories fresh of a significant cluster — linked to 39 cases — emerging from the World Hereford Conference in Queenstown in March.
The Morgo conference is being held at the Heritage Hotel on Thursday and Friday.
Having Aucklanders attending the conference appears to directly contravene Ardern’s plea on Sunday calling for people from the city to avoid mass gatherings.
“Please don’t attend a mass gathering, even if it is not in Auckland,” she said.
NZH: Aucklanders shouldn’t be going to Queenstown for conferences – Chris Hipkins
Health Minister Chris Hipkins says he is not comfortable with Aucklanders travelling to conferences in Queenstown and has called on the city’s residents to “do the right thing”.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins says he is not comfortable with Aucklanders travelling to conferences in Queenstown and has called on the city’s residents to “do the right thing”.
“We are asking Aucklanders to continue to take their alert level restrictions with them.”
Aren’t we more or less at the same alert level throughout New Zealand now?
It’s quite confusing with all of the country at alert level 2 but with some special sub-rules for Auckland.
The alert level restrictions in Auckland meant people should not be attending gatherings of more than 10 people in the city, he said.
“So if Aucklanders are travelling to other parts of the country the same rules should apply.”
The Government was asking for “goodwill” from Aucklanders, he said.
“We are asking for Aucklanders to play their part as they have done over the last three weeks in keeping the country safe.
“There is never going to be a 100 per cent enforceable system when it comes to these types of restrictions so we are asking people to do the right thing.”
It has been shown already that people bending and breaking rules will happen, so it’s a concern if the Government is relying on appeals to the public rather than rules.
This looks messy.