Covid 19 coronavirus: Number of price gouging email complaints sent to Government revealed

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the email address on Monday. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Nearly 1000 emails have been sent to the Government alerting them to potential price gouging amid the coronavirus lockdown.

As at 9am, April 1, 991 emails had been sent to the Pricewatch inbox, the Ministry of Business and Innovation told the Herald.

"However, some of the emails are unrelated to price complaints while others are duplicates or people providing further information on their initial email," MBIE said.

On Monday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Kiwis could alert the Government to price gouging during the coronavirus lockdown.

People were asked to send photos and receipts in an email to pricewatch@mbie.govt.nz so the reports could be investigated.

The announcement came at her weekly-post-Cabinet media conference, however, despite various reports, she had found no evidence of price gouging.

Price gouging was when a seller of products increased the price to a level much higher than what was considered reasonable for fair.

On Monday, Foodstuffs North Island chief executive Chris Quinn told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB supermarkets were not price gouging.

"Hand on heart, no price gouging," Quinn said.

"One of the things we are very focused on, from about five weeks ago this was both a medical event and an economic event and one of the things we are really clear on is New Zealanders are going through different economic outcomes of this and we need to make sure the value in our supermarkets is held."

Elsewhere, Ardern announced yesterday supermarkets would be open on Easter Sunday but closed as usual on Good Friday.

The announcement was made during her daily update on the coronavirus pandemic and New Zealand's lockdown.

Any supermarket employee who did not want to work on Easter Sunday would not have to, and again, Ardern urged Kiwis to be kind to supermarket workers.

The decision on Easter trading was made by the Covid-19 committee, who thought there was a need for staff to rest and for supermarkets to restock.

However, people still needed access to essential food, hence they would be open on Easter Sunday.

It was also revealed more than 21,000 tests had been conducted for the potentially deadly virus in New Zealand.

Authorities had not been testing widely enough to tell where the community outbreaks were so the case definition was been expanded, Ardern said.

Travel history and connection with a case was now not essential to being tested - New Zealand had the ability to test 3500 people a day.

"I want more tests. We've built the capacity for more tests," the Prime Minister said Tuesday.

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