Tauranga 'prepared' for state of national emergency, mayor says

Tauranga Mayor Tenby Powell said the region was in good shape to respond to a national emergency. Photo / File

Tauranga Mayor Tenby says the region is in "really good shape" to respond to the state of national emergency, declared yesterday afternoon.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared the state of national emergency in Parliament yesterday at 12.21pm.

This provided access to special powers to combat Covid-19 - including powers of requisition, closing roads and stopping people from doing certain activities.

Sarah Stuart-Black, director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, said these powers sat alongside other powers to ensure essential services could stay up and running.

"Each of you has a role in helping to save a life," she said.

The legislation allowed the state of emergency to remain in place for seven days, but this can be extended.

"We're really hoping people have heard the messages and understand how horrendous this could get," Stuart-Black said, and there would also be "no tolerance" for people who do not self-isolate.

Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell, who is also the chairman of the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence & Emergency Management Group, said he had been in contact yesterday with the mayors of Ōpōtiki, Whakatāne, Kawerau, Rotorua Lakes and the Western Bay of Plenty Districts to discuss a local response plan.

"We're in really good shape, we're a co-ordinated team, we work well together," he said.

"I'm confident we have a good plan in place."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern after declaring a State of National Emergency in Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The regional Civil Defence controllers would be on seven-day shifts, he said, and they were planning to "augment" that with back-up "as need be".

"As-need-be would mean if there was a major Bay of Plenty community breakout," Powell said.

"I'm very hopeful that we won't. Because we have an older demographic, we've discovered that people are really taking this seriously."

He was very "conscious" of the Bay of Plenty's older population, he said, and was "heartened" by the meeting with his regional counterparts.

He said the situation about a national emergency was "a very specific thing".

"This is very unique, and so the regions need to be able to lock right into that and to play their part ... in the national structure," he said.

Bay of Plenty Regional Councillor David Love, deputy chairman of the regional Civil Defence emergency management group, said for the Bay of Plenty it would be "much the same" as the rest of the country.

The only difference was the higher percentage of older people in our population, he said, because it was known that Covid-19 affected older people more than younger people.

"That's a major worry for us."

The council recognised the "difficult economic circumstances" its ratepayers would be facing, and had decided not to make a small rates increase this year, he said.

Nationwide, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield announced there were 50 new cases yesterday , which brought the New Zealand total to 205.

Bloomfield said he expected the number of cases to continue rising for the next 10 days, and the numbers would drop if people stayed at home.

He said there were two possible strains of Covid-19.

"Whatever the strain, we know the way to beat it is the same."