Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government cannot afford massive disruption to the health case system. "He broke the rules, and he needs to pay a price."
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is "quietly confident and cautiously optimistic" about New Zealand's efforts to stamp out Covid-19.
This is a sentiment clearly shared by the Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield, who told media this afternoon New Zealand can be "increasingly more confident," and that the "signs are good".
However, their optimism about New Zealand's Covid-19 fight, at times, overshadowed by the recent actions of Health Minister David Clark.
He was demoted to the bottom of the Cabinet ranking and stripped of his Associate Finance portfolio after admitting to again breaking the lockdown rules.
Ardern said she would have sacked him from his health responsibilities if it wasn't for the fact New Zealand was in the midst of a health pandemic and training a new Health Minister would take too much time.
"What he did was wrong, and there are no excuses," she said.
"He broke the rules, and he needs to pay a price."
Despite this, she warned against people changing their behaviours during the lockdown.
Even though it's coming up to the Easter break, Ardern urged people to stay at home.
In fact, Bloomfield asked people to have a "staycation".
And although most Kiwis are playing by the lockdown rules, there are still some who are flouting the restrictions.
Nearly 300 people have been caught breaking the rules since the lockdown began, Bloomfield revealed this afternoon.
Of those, 16 people are now facing prosecution.
Police have also told the Herald that Health Minister David Clark is not among the 291 breaches recorded under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act.
Ardern was highly critical of her Health Minister this afternoon – she said he made a "massive mistake" and was now paying the price.
The only reason he remains Minister of Health was because it would be too onerous to bring a new Minister into the role, she said.
She would not say if he would keep the job after Covid-19 was under control.
Clark was "under no illusions" that she expects better.
