Covid 19 coronavirus Delta outbreak: North Shore surfer, fishermen catch police attention

A rule-breaking surfer has made a speedy exit from the waves of a popular East Auckland beach after being approached by the police on their launch Deodar in Auckland this morning.

Two men fishing on the Murray's Bay Wharf "also scarpered from us when we approached", Sergeant Craig Kennedy, of the Auckland police maritime unit, said.

The surfer was spotted by water police at O'Neills Reef, at the northern end of Takapuna Beach, about 8.45am, a witness who watched the scene unfold as he walked his dog told the Herald.

Police were about 40 metres from the surfer when the man, who looked to be aged in his mid-20s, realised he was busted, the witness said.

"He caught the next wave and then ran up the bank. It was pretty funny.

"He just kind of fled."

The surfer wasn't able to be spoken to by police on land, Kennedy said.

"But the two fishermen ... were spoken to by a land unit. The fishermen were 'educated' and given an official warning."

Low-risk exercise within your own neighbourhood is allowed under alert level 4, in which all of New Zealand remains until 11.59pm next Tuesday, and Auckland and Northland beyond that date.

Any recreational activity that could lead to a rescue or emergency response is not permitted, a police spokeswoman said this week.

This included, but was not limited to, activities such as surfing, snowboarding, tramping, fishing and whitebaiting.

Since alert level 4 began, police have received a total of 10,239 105-online breach notifications, with 6196 about a gathering, 3075 about a business and 968 about a person.

Seventy-nine people had been charged with a total of 85 offences nationwide as of 5pm Thursday.

Just over 1200 infringement notices have also been issued by police nationwide.

From Wednesday, when the country will be split across two different alert levels, police will be tightly controlling movement across Auckland's southern border.

Only essential workers and those with exemptions granted by MBIE will be allowed through roadblocks.

Along with manning checkpoints, police have warned they'll be stopping and questioning more people about their reason for being on the road from today.