Coronavirus Covid-19: Masks Required on Auckland Public Transport, All Flights – Jacinda Ardern

Kiwis will be required to wear masks on public transport in Auckland starting Thursday, says Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins.

They will not need to be used on school buses, but will be required on all flights within New Zealand.

Uber drivers will have to wear masks, but their passengers will not, Hipkins said.

The police can enforce the rules, but that will be the last resort and the bus drivers will not be held responsible for enforcing them.

He said that people will be punished if they violate these orders, but the approach the government uses is more on education.

“We ask all New Zealanders to continue to play their part,” said Hipkins.

He said ministers will study whether this should be extended to the rest of the country.

Hipkins still encourages people to wear a mask when they can’t socially distance themselves.

He said a broader outbreak can be prevented if all New Zealanders play their part.

He said it was another set and NZ is looking to improve its protections.

Hipkins said that there has been a “high compliance” with the use of masks in recent days, so he expected people to comply.

Rules can be implemented in NZ – Ardern

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said these new approaches are “another line of defense.”

He said that the continued use of masks has always been encouraged, but that the government wants to see an improvement in the use of masks in public transport.

On flights, he said it is “much simpler” if everyone on flights wears masks.

But when it comes to public transport, that’s just for Auckland right now, given that there are more frontier workers living in the city.

Ardern said the Health Ministry recommended the use of mandatory short-term masks a while ago, but Ardern said that would have been too confusing.

“We do not expect bus drivers to stop the bus and enforce these measures,” Hipkins said.

Ardern said these rules will be self-reinforcing, as people will know their responsibility.

Ardern said the government will work with bus operators on this.

He said the Cabinet will consider whether this should be implemented nationwide, but did not provide a timeline.

On promoting the Covid-19 app, Ardern said the government was “considering all its options.”

“We all want a summer vacation,” he said.

He said the government would be “thinking creatively” about how to encourage the use of applications.

Going forward, a priority for the Government is privacy. That will be the most important thing when looking to develop the Covid-19 application.

Hipkins wants people to be in control of their own data.

Ardern said that many countries have returned to the blockade and many Kiwis want to go home, he told reporters.

She said that “no system” is perfect.

In the Cabinet’s view, New Zealand’s rules must be constantly reviewed.

“We think we need additional precautions,” he said.

In frozen meat from New Zealand and Covid

On the meat situation, where New Zealand frozen products were said to contain traces of Covid in China, Ardern said the government was informed that Argentina had tested positive.

The New Zealand produce was in the same cold room, but the government was not officially informed that the New Zealand meat had traces of Covid-19, it said.

“I want to get to the bottom of this,” he said.

“This is incredibly important to New Zealand,” he said.

Ardern said APEC is important to New Zealand and that the last thing the world needs right now is protectionist trade policies.

He said the RCEP deal is important to New Zealand because it opens up the country more to the world.

Ardern said the “green shoots” of New Zealand’s Covid-19 recovery put the county in a good position to speak to other nations.

He said New Zealand remains in a good position, but our freedoms are under threat as Covid increases around the world.

About the Cook Islands bubble

On the Cook Islands bubble, Ardern said officials will be investigating the maritime border.

He said it has been important to make sure.

“It’s not just about the Cook Islands being ready, it’s about New Zealand being ready,” he said.

In the South Australian group, Ardern said this further reinforces the way the country intends to manage its borders when it comes to outbreaks.

“New Zealand has not rushed into this,” he said of a travel bubble with Australia.

Last week, after a scare in the Covid-19 community, later dating back to the Jet Park MIQ facility, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the cabinet will discuss any new mandatory rules. of facial mask.

But those rules would likely focus on public transportation and potentially air travel.
Under the current alert level setting, the use of masks in public transport is mandatory at levels 2 and above.

Any new rules revealed today would be a supplement to level one, meaning that it would not be necessary to change alert levels to make masks mandatory on public transportation.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB this morning, Ardern said ministers will discuss the details of the mandatory wearing of masks this afternoon.

“For Auckland, they would have already heard Minister Hipkins and me say ‘look, for Auckland public transport this is a good precautionary measure.’

He said that the Cabinet will talk about what happens on the planes, as well as what will happen in the rest of the country.

Ardern said any announced measures would be in effect for the foreseeable future: “we are not talking short term.”

That applies to public transportation and “possibly” airplanes, but not necessarily across the country.

He said the focus would be on places where people are difficult to track down, such as buses.