1179 days ago

Covid-19: What a move to alert level 4 means for New Zealand

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

All of New Zealand will move to alert level 4 at 11.59pm after a new community Covid-19 case emerged in Auckland.

New Zealand will initially spend three days at alert level 4, except for Auckland and the Coromandel, which will remain at level 4 for seven days at this stage.

What are the rules at alert level 4?

Staying at home
People are asked to stay at home, unless they are undertaking essential travel to the supermarket or dairy, seeking necessary medical care or being tested for Covid-19, or to get physical exercise in their neighbourhood.

Unnecessary trips outdoors have spread the variant overseas, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

She advised people to wear a mask when leaving the house, and stay 2 metres away from others. “Stay local, do not congregate. Don't talk to your neighbours.”

Schools, workplaces and business

Businesses will be closed, except for essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies, health clinics, petrol stations and lifeline utilities.

Only essential workers are permitted to go to work, others must work from home.

Schools and universities will shut down, and travel is severely limited.

Events and recreation
All gatherings are cancelled at alert level 4.

All public venues, including libraries, pools, leisure centres, gyms, early childcare centres, community venues and playgrounds are closed. Some public toilets will remain open.

Many large events have been canned.

Staying in your bubble
Once you go into a bubble you must stay in it, Ardern said.

If you are completely isolated, or you live alone, you can join a bubble with one other person.

Households are advised to nominate just one person to go shopping, and “always act like you have Covid-19”.

Travelling home
There is a grace period of 48 hours for people who are away from home to return home, if they cannot shelter safely in place. After this time, movement between regions will be restricted.

Covid-19 jabs
Covid-19 vaccinations will be suspended for 48 hours to ensure they can be carried out safely.

Read more here.

More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: Is it rude to talk on the phone on a bus?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Buses can be a relaxing way to get home if you have a seat and enough space. However, it can be off-putting when someone is taking a phone call next to you.

Do you think it's inconsiderate for people to have lengthy phone calls on a bus? Vote in the poll, and add your comments below.

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Is it rude to talk on the phone on a bus?
  • 64.6% Yes
    64.6% Complete
  • 32.8% No
    32.8% Complete
  • 2.6% Other - I'll share below
    2.6% Complete
1247 votes
1 hour ago

Horse rider pleads for support to keep them safe on roads

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from The Press

A nationwide campaign to have horse-riders officially recognised as vulnerable road users has been offered supported by the West Coast’s Regional Transport committee.

The committee heard a presentation this month from equestrian safety advocate Julia McLean, who recently took a petition to Parliament on behalf of riding associations across the country.

The petition, signed by close to 9000 people, asks the government to recognise the vulnerability of horse riders in transport legislation.

“Currently we sit in the ‘other road user’ category and that gives no benefits whatsoever and most critically we are not included in education or road safety-messaging,” McLean said.

Horse-riders were continually dealing with reckless and dangerous behaviour by motorists, she told the committee.

“We get reports from our rider groups of horses being killed: there was one in Reefton, and another in Ruatoki; just two weeks ago a horse was hit and killed by a truck and the rider was taken to hospital."

Riders were also put at risk by aggressive drivers tooting their horns, winding down their windows and shouting, and passing at speed and too closely, she told the committee.

But unlike accidents involving pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users, such incidents involving horses were not captured in the statistics.

When she had asked NZTA for data, said said all it could tell her was that it had issued 13 infringements in 13 years, for failing to take care around a ridden animal or stock.

“When someone comes so close they touch your stirrup, or they hoot their horn as they go past ... it’s the abuse - it’s everywhere."

In a case down south, a truck driver refused to slow down despite hand signals and the rider fell off just in front of him, she said.

She had asked the road safety director for NZ Police to look at providing a ‘tick-box’ for horse-riders in incident reports, Ms McLean said.

“It’s a small, low-cost measure that would allow us to have some proper data, an informed understanding of what’s happening out there on the roads, and in turn some targeted road safety messaging.”

She was motivated to become a safety advocate by her own experience at the age of 25, when she fractured her skull in a near-fatal riding accident on a Kaiapoi road.

“I lost all memory of my childhood; my sense of taste and smell is gone forever. I was in a coma for week, I lost my career and it’s taken me 16 years to fully recover,” she told LDR.

Her accident had not been caused by a car: her horse had shied and thrown her when a piece of paper on the verge moved suddenly in the wind.

But the incident was a grim reminder of what could happen if a horse were startled, she said.

The UK and Australia had recently changed their road codes to give drivers explicit instructions on passing horses.

“It needs to be explicit. We can’t assume people just get it anymore. Common sense is not a thing. We actually have to tell people what we require, to pass a horse wide and slow - wide is two metres.”

A total of 37 organisations were now endorsing her campaign, including police, trucking companies, pony clubs and 10 other regional councils, McLean told the committee.

Transport Committee chairperson Peter Ewen was supportive of Ms McLeans safety campaign.

“In rural New Zealand we have a lot of narrow roads, and we do have riders on them – I would like to think that courtesy is given to those riders."

Regional council chairperson Peter Haddock said he sympathised with the cause but had reservations about riders on state highways.

“I would encourage it on low volume council roads but would struggle to support riding on highways where you’ve got traffic following closely behind.

“It’s difficult to find you suddenly have a horse in front of you and slowly pass it and go from 100kphs to 10kphs. It’s a dangerous situation."

McLean said horse riders did not want to ride on highways, and accidents were happening on 50kph local roads.

She appealed to West Coast mayors and chairs present to consider horse riders when they built shared pathways like cycle trails.

“We don’t need a hard surface, just a bit of dirt or grass at the side.”

The Transport Committee agreed to draft a letter to the national transport authorities, endorsing McLean’s safety campaign but stating its reservations about horses on highways.

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22 days ago

What's your favourite recipe for gooseberry?

Mei Leng Wong Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love gooseberries? Share your favourite way to enjoy them. We're looking for our readers' favourite family recipes for this delicious crop. Send yours to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the magazine, you will receive a free copy of our December 2024 issue.

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