Coronavirus: Prime Minister praises Aucklanders' high uptake of masks

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has praised Aucklanders’ high uptake of masks as the region enters coronavirus alert “level 2.5”.

Ardern arrived in Auckland on Monday morning.

At 11.30am, she visited a Kāinga Ora development on Bari Lane, in Māngere.

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The prime minister, who was wearing a blue surgical mask, told media gathered at the construction site that she had noticed “widespread mask use” while travelling across the city, which was “fantastic".

Ardern hoped the high use of masks would continue.

"It is an added piece of vigilance, a tool that we have to keep ourselves and others safe," she said.

On Monday morning, the construction workers at the Kāinga Ora site were wearing an extra level of protective gear on top of high vis and hard hats: face masks.

One of the roads that will sweep through the new development is lined with houses at varying stages of construction, dotted with the bright yellows and oranges of builders working on scaffolding.

Ardern said the use of face coverings at the site was “an example of the lessons that were learned during the first lockdown”.

Workers had been continuing construction, with safety precautions in place, at Kāinga Ora sites across Auckland throughout the second level 3 lockdown, which ended on Sunday.

They have been split into groups to form work bubbles and are using designated facilities to make contact tracing easier if the workers have contact with a coronavirus cases.

From Monday, masks were compulsory on public transport across the country, while Aucklanders were encouraged to wear them whenever they're in public.

Most commuters appeared to be complying with the requirement to wear masks during morning rush hour.

Ardern said police out on the beat would be carrying extra masks and would “deescalate" any situations that got out of hand, Ardern said.

Ardern defended the Government’s response to the latest community outbreak of coronavirus.

She would not rule in nor rule out whether regions outside of Auckland would move to level 1 on September 6.

The prime minister acknowledged that Kiwis were likely feeling “a bit tired” as the country moved between alert levels.

“But relative to other [countries] we're doing really well,” Ardern said.

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Ahead of the easing of restrictions on Monday, south Auckland residents said the community, where the latest coronavirus cluster began, would likely be hard hit by the fallout of the second lockdown.

As school pupils returned to classrooms after an 18-day regional level 3 lockdown, principals said anxiety was high for families.

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Stuff