Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: Dannevirke shoppers urged to 'show respect'

High St still had its fair share of traffic but not to the same degree as a normal weekday.

Dannevirke residents remained fairly calm in the first full day of level 4 lockdown.

While there were some people out and about, the streets remained fairly quiet. The main thoroughfare High St still had some traffic, although to a much lesser degree than a normal weekday.

Reports were that those shopping at the local supermarket or needing prescriptions were following the protocols staff had quickly put in place.

Dannevirke Pharmacy was open but with strict protocols in place.

Dannevirke Pharmacy owner Hamish Pankhurst said people coming to the pharmacy had been more receptive to the protocols.

He had owned the pharmacy for only six months before the lockdown last year.

"That was a learning curve," he said.

This time he was able to use plans he had from last year's lockdown, which had helped.

Staff had rallied around, helping to set up before the pharmacy opened on Wednesday morning.

Pankhurst had also posted a video on the Dannevirke Community Page on Facebook, which he said had helped get information out.

The pharmacy has put in place measures such as only allowing one person in, and keeping an eftpos machine at the door.

Staff are also not charging extra for delivery of prescriptions around town for those who need the service.

Customers wait in line outside New World.

New World had been busy the night before but owner Bruce Jenkins said the staff had coped well.

He said his staff had reported that customers weren't stockpiling goods and were just getting enough to see them through the next few days.

"Last year a lot of people started panic buying until they realised that we would just keep replenishing the shelves and we proved to them that we weren't going to run out of stock."

Like other supermarkets around the country, the Dannevirke supermarket did run out of things like flour and sugar.

"At the end of the day we still had the essentials and we managed to show that we weren't going to run out of toilet paper or anything else that they might have needed."

Jenkins asked for customers to be kind and respectful toward staff through the lockdown.

"We've got some fantastic staff, they're doing an awesome job, they're there for the community, we just need you to appreciate and look after them.

"We weren't without our fair share of challenges last time, but I think we proved to the community that we want to look after them.

"Our staff do a fantastic job. They want to look after the community. Just show respect in return."

Jenkins said some things were obviously beyond the store's control but he and his staff were doing everything they possibly could.

He said while the situation wasn't what people wanted, we'd all done it before and could do it again.

There were various protocols in place including limits on some items, using one entry, physical distancing and restricting numbers in the store.

Shops were closed all along High St.

Tararua District Council advised service centres would be closed for the duration, but residents could still talk to staff by phone.

The council reported that the phone lines were not frantically busy and callers were being kind to customer service staff.

The majority of calls were from those concerned about paying rates, checking details, and waste collection.

While landfills and recycling centres would be closed, there would still be rubbish collection.

However, residents were asked to clean and store their recycling for the meantime.

Community facilities like pools, halls, sports clubs and playgrounds were closed.

Libraries were also closed and those who wanted to return books were asked to hold on to them until libraries opened again.

Those concerned about making their payments and those awaiting payments from the council who hadn't received them should contact customer services.

Essential services would remain open including water and animal services, emergency maintenance of roads or bridges, and the processing of building consents in urgent circumstances.

MidCentral DHB chief executive Kathryn Cook said essential and urgent healthcare services would still be provided.

Acute services, such as the Emergency Department, would remain open.

Non-urgent care, including elective surgeries and appointments would be postponed.

Affected patients would be contacted.

Cancer services would still continue under strict health and safety measures and renal dialysis would continue.

The St John shuttle service would also still be available for those patients.

A no-visitor policy was adopted, with some exceptions such as a parent or guardian supporting a child, or a nominated person supporting someone terminally or severely ill or a birthing mother.

Residents were advised to follow the hygiene guidelines but if they had any concerns or were experiencing symptoms to phone Healthline on 0800 358 5453.