People wearing masks in central Auckland. (File photo)
Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen
Some are wondering if Aucklanders have become a little too relaxed in the face of the ever-present threat of Covid-19.
While the rest of the country is at alert level 1, for at least this week Auckland is at alert level 2 meaning people can go to workplaces and schools are open but there are limits on gathering sizes and no mingling at restaurants and bars.
After seven days of no community cases linked to the Papatoetoe cluster, it was an aircrew member who broke the streak and was recorded as the country s first case outside of managed isolation in that time.
New Zealand government negligence led to Auckland’s COVID-19 cluster
New Zealand’s largest city has been in a partial one-week lockdown since Sunday, February 28, following the discovery of new COVID-19 cases linked to Papatoetoe High School in working class South Auckland. The “level 3” lockdown includes the closure of many workplaces and most schools, except for children who cannot be supervised at home. Outside Auckland, the country has “level 2” restrictions in place, which mandate social distancing and contact tracing, and masks on public transport.
By Monday, tens of thousands of tests had identified 15 cases with links to the cluster, the origin of which has still not been found. The first three cases were identified on February 14, including one high school student and their mother, who was employed at LSG SkyChefs at Auckland Airport. There were suspicions that the virus was brought from overseas through the airport, but this is unconfirmed. All the cases are t