Covid-19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: 107 arrested so far for lockdown breaches

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Buying a puppy, delivering fish to a friend, seeking out "better quality meat" and wanting to see a pod of visiting orca are among the "creative" excuses police manning checkpoints around the country received over the weekend from motorists who were on the road when they shouldn't have been for non-essential and long-distance travel.

"Now is not the time to throw caution to the wind or take unnecessary risks," Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said in a statement this afternoon, explaining that the motorists were turned around. "Police will not tolerate behaviour that deliberately jeopardises everyone's efforts to date.

"We all know the rules by now so the public can expect Police to move from education through to enforcement more quickly in these circumstances."

But by and large, the top cop also said, the public has acted commendably as the nation continues to trudge through strict lockdown at alert level 4.

Those restrictions are expected to loosen somewhat on Wednesday, as all of New Zealand south of Auckland moves into alert level 3. Auckland, however, will remain in alert level 4 for at least two more weeks, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed this afternoon.

Police said 107 people have been charged with 115 lockdown-related offences from the start of lockdown through to 5pm Sunday. Authorities also issued warnings to 293 people during that same time period.

Police have also issued nearly 2200 infringements, including 2018 for people accused of failing to remain at their residence, 47 for people who failed to wear a mask at premises or on public transport, 13 for workplaces that failed to display QR codes, six for businesses that didn't close as required, 62 for failing to comply with physical distancing rules and eight for people accused of organising outdoor gatherings.

In addition, police said, they have received over 20,000 tips on lockdown breaches from people reporting online and over the phone.

One breach over the weekend involved a report of poaching on a West Coast farm, police said.

Police found two men on the Totora Flat property and an unloaded gun, they said. One of the men said he had been hunting, but police have not yet decided if charges will be filed, they said.