Stagger benefit payment days to avoid long supermarket lines during lockdown, academic suggests

An Auckland University statistician says local consultation will help communities get through Covid-19, and has suggested that staggering benefit payment days could help shorten lines at overcrowded small-town supermarkets.

Speaking this morning to TVNZ 1's Breakfast, Andrew Sporle said policy around coronavirus was set in Wellington, but that Regional Medical Officers of health directly manage epidemics at a local level around the country.

He suggested that more local engagement and listening to the community could help solve problems, one of which being the reported overcrowding at Kaitaia's only supermarket on Thursdays - benefit day.

He suggested that benefit payment days could simply be staggered throughout the week to solve the issue.

Mr Sporle also talked about how epidemics tend to hit Māori and Pacific Island communities hard in several ways.

"The previous H1N1 epidemic we went through in about 2009 had a mortality rate for Māori about 2.6 times that for non-Māori and non-Pacific," Mr Sporle said.