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RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Restaurant social workers enjoy a few after-work drinks on the first Friday night of Alert Level 2.
Auckland residents enjoy Alert Level 2.5 freedoms, with bars and restaurants on the city’s waterfront “as crowded as they get” on the first weekend of eased restrictions.
Some of Auckland’s most popular after-work watering holes were full again around 4pm on Friday, with drinks flowing and canapes enjoyed in the sun.
However, the limit of no more than 100 people per venue restricted the typically bustling strip of restaurants to about a third of its usual capacity, a manager at the venue said.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Jackson Thomas and Josephine Franks find Auckland’s ‘hottest’ beer.
The venue, on Auckland’s Customs Street West, can hold between 300 and 500 people on a busy Friday night.
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But under the level 2 alert level, the space bar was just one of several places forced to turn away customers.
“It’s amazing to have Auckland locals and enjoy some cool drinks in the sun, but the 100-person limit makes things difficult,” he said.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
The venue was turning people away as the 100-person-per-venue limit hits larger establishments the hardest.
“Look at us here, we’re all very socially distanced, but we can’t serve more people than a place one-third the size of next door.
“It’s difficult, but look, [we’re] grateful to see people behave and have fun again. “
Following a Cabinet review on Friday, the government announced that it would keep New Zealand at alert level 2 and Auckland at alert level 2.5 for at least another week and a half.
Lawrence Smith / Stuff
Deputy Commissioner Richard Chambers said police would also be monitoring lodging locations to make sure owners were complying with restrictions.
One of the country’s top police officers urged Auckland residents to adhere to the restrictions this weekend, adding that there would be an increased police presence across the city.
Deputy Commissioner Richard Chambers said police would also be monitoring lodging locations to make sure owners were complying with restrictions.
On the boardwalk, for the most part, masks were worn and tables were separated by at least two meters from each other.
RICKY WILSON / THINGS
Manukau District Councilor Alf Filipaina wants South Auckland residents to get tested for Covid-19 after a man died at Middlemore Hospital.
Yet while many were enjoying it, it appears that two recent deaths did little to convince people to flock to any of the city’s various test stations.
The Covid test tents around South Auckland were empty on Saturday afternoon.
In Ōtara, shortly after 3:00 p.m. M., Doctors and nurses in full PPE were standing around as not a single car was parked at the many stations located across the parking lot.
Several other places in the region, including Māngere and Manurewa, were also very quiet.
