[ad_1]
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Large crowds of people demonstrated in Auckland on Saturday against social distancing restrictions imposed by the government on the country’s largest city after an outbreak of the novel coronavirus last month.
Local television footage showed tight crowds, with many people without masks, with estimates of attendance reportedly varying between a thousand and a few thousand people.
“We are all here today because we believe we have to defend our rights,” said Jami-Lee Ross, leader of the Advance New Zealand party, one of the organizers of the protest, quoting Jami-Lee Ross.
“We are all here today because we believe it is time to stand up and say: ‘We need to regain our rights and freedoms.’
There were no immediate reports of arrests.
New Zealand, a nation of five million, appeared to have succeeded in stopping community transmission of COVID-19, but a new outbreak in Auckland in August prompted the government to put the city back on lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who faces a general election on October 17, lowered restrictions earlier this month, but the city is still at alert level 2.5, which means no excess social gatherings are allowed. of 10 people. Masks are mandatory on public transportation across the country.
On Saturday, New Zealand reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, bringing its total number of infections since the beginning of the year to 1,444. Twenty-four people have died.
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly; Edited by Kim Coghill)
[ad_2]
