Two thirds of Kiwis agreed with the Government's move to extend Auckland's lockdown by four days. Photo / Greg Bowker
Two thirds of Kiwis agreed with the Government's move to extend Auckland's lockdown by four days. Photo / Greg Bowker
This story originally stated that Aucklanders were divided over the lockdown extension. The Herald accepts that there was in fact strong support for the lockdown and its extension amongst Aucklanders, as well as the rest of the country.
A new poll has revealed New Zealanders' views on the city's lockdownextension and whether it was an appropriate response to the resurgence of Covid-19.
Auckland had its first day at its "new normal" of alert level 2.5 yesterday with limits on gatherings and the new rule for all New Zealanders to wear a mask on public transport and planes taking effect.
Police said they were "pleasantly surprised" at the high level of compliance, but had a stern warning for people refusing to wear one:
"For those people who are struggling with why masks are mandatory, I would encourage you to reflect on the damage this pandemic has done overseas," said Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers.
It comes as a new NZ Herald-Kantar Vote 2020 poll shows nearly two thirds of Kiwis agree with the Government's move to extend Auckland's lockdown by four days which ended on Sunday night.
polls
But almost one in five - or 19 per cent - thought it should have been extended for longer while 10 per cent believed it should have lifted as originally planned at 11.59pm last Wednesday.
And 6 per cent thought it should never have happened.
The poll of 1000 eligible voters was taken from August 26-30 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 per cent.
Fifty-six per cent of Aucklanders said the four-day extension was an appropriate response, 19 per cent wanted it extended further, 14 per cent supported the original end point and 9 per cent said it should never have happened.
Support for extending the lockdown was higher outside of Auckland, with 73 per cent of Wellingtonians agreeing it was an appropriate response and just 1 per cent saying it should never have happened.
Sixty-six per cent of Cantabrians supported the extension while a quarter of Kiwis in the rest of the South Island believing it should have been extended for longer.
It comes as there were another five cases reported in the community yesterday with three being close contacts from the Mt Roskill "mini cluster" and the other two being household contacts.
The Health Ministry said they all have clear epidemiological links to the wider Auckland cluster, which now has 141 cases connected to it.
And with 15 more cases recovered, the number of active cases from the outbreak is 107 and 85 of those people have moved into a managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) facility.
There were also four people who'd tested positive in MIQ after returning from overseas.
And on the first day of Auckland at a "heightened" alert level 2, Health Minister Chris Hipkins said he could give an assurance the outbreak was contained because all the new cases were close contacts.
The alert level system was designed to allow for regions to not be locked down with Covid-19 infections contained.
"As we continue to chase down the remnants of the current cluster, we're asking everyone to keep up the good work they've been doing by keeping themselves and keeping others safe."
Hipkins said the habits of wearing a mask, hand washing, physically distancing, following the guidelines and limiting gatherings were "relatively minor inconveniences" to have in return for relative normality.
On the first day of mandated masks on public transport, Hipkins said there appeared to be wide uptake, with Auckland Transport reporting 90 per cent of passengers wearing one.
Police increased their presence at key transport hubs and reported Kiwis were "overwhelmingly compliant" with wearing a mask or face covering, with only a "small number" without one, Chambers said.
"We are pleasantly surprised at the level of high compliance and New Zealanders should be congratulated for this."
He said police were taking an education and encouragement approach - but they have the power to issue an instant $300 fine if someone is not wearing one.
And as Education Minister Hipkins said, while he understood parents might feel anxious about sending their children back to school, it was "not okay" to keep them at home, and schools were safe.
"Their futures depend on this."
Meanwhile the Ministry of Health is doing an internal review into how a communication botch-up led to 700,000 South and West Aucklanders incorrectly being told to get a Covid-19 test, even if they didn't have symptoms or a connection to the cluster.
This message remained online until Sunday morning, after questions were raised about it.
Hipkins said neither he, nor Ardern, saw the message before it was published but he understood the guidance got "lost in translation".
"There is some sensitivity around paid advertising at the moment, as we're in the regulated period," Hipkins said.
"I think that meant that officials didn't run the wording of those advertisements past us in a way they would have done previously."
He said he has since told officials that he wants that sort of information to be run by him from now on.
"These are not political advertisements, these are factual advertisements – we want to see them before they are going out.
"That last set of eyes sometimes spots things that everyone else in the chain might not have seen."
