Police have so far charged 17 people with 20 total charges for breaching Alert Level 4 rules during the current lockdown and issued 70 infringements nationwide.
Of the 20 charges filed, 11 are for failing to comply with Covid-19 orders, seven for failure to comply with direction/prohibition/restriction and two for Health Act breaches.
In a press release, police thanked the majority of New Zealanders for complying with the rules, but said the acts of a small minority was "incredibly disappointing".
"We have all seen what happens overseas when people ignore the rules, and it’s imperative that everyone stays home."
At today's press conference, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the number of breaches was "really low".
"Thank you to everyone for sticking to the plan we know works," she said.
Since the start of Level 4 on midnight Wednesday, 53 formal warnings were issued nationwide.
Thirteen of the formal warnings were for failing to comply with Covid-19 orders, 16 for failure to comply with direction/prohibition/restriction and 24 for Health Act breaches.
Police have received a total of 3,318 online breach notifications.
Of those 1,776 were about a gathering, 1,259 were about a business, and 283 were about a person.
In addition to the online breach reports, a total of 2,663 Covid-19 related calls were made to the 105-phone line.
The majority (72%) of calls were requests for information, and 28 per cent were to report perceived Covid-19 breaches.
"Police wished to remind citizens that while exercise was encouraged, it should only be in their local neighbourhood. Driving somewhere for the purposes of exercising is not permitted."
SHARE ME