An injured mountain-biker had to be lifted off by a rescue helicopter after going for a ride during lockdown.
A Life Flight Westpac rescue helicopter spokesperson confirmed to Stuff that the biker had to be winched off a hill in Wellington.
The biker, who was injured in thick native bush, had to be treated by a paramedic before getting lifted out by helicopter.
According to Stuff, St John Ambulance reported an incident of a mountain-biker who had broken their leg on a track.
The bike track around the Brooklyn wind turbine was reportedly "teeming with mountain-bikers".
The incident comes after controversy surrounding Health Minister David Clark, who broke lockdown rules last week and drove to a mountain biking track more than two kilometres from his Dunedin home.
Clark has since admitted his mistake and apologised to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who said he "needs to be a role model".
Police guidelines to cyclists have been clear that they must be within their local area near their homes to "keep pressure off our emergency services and hospitals at this time".
Mountain Bike New Zealand echoed NZ Police's guidelines to "only ride close to home".
"This is not a time for shredding trails or ending up in hospital," the group said in a Facebook post.
"It's all a bit confusing, we need to Stay at Home and obviously at this time to use common sense, it would be nothing but negligent for you to go for that Epic Ride into the backcountry or to take on that Double Black Diamond Trail, well away from the critical eyes of your mates," said Mountain Bike NZ president Chris Arbuckle.
"To add, even on a short ride you should be wearing gloves and obviously a helmet as well. I'd encourage leaving your trail dog at home as they tend not to understand the keep your distance rule. We would further emphasise, to refrain from adding conflict with other users on the multi-use trails and paths at a time where we need to be kind and sensible."
• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website
The cyclist was never referred for a detailed psychological assessment.