Covid-19 coronavirus: Police notice traffic increase, remind motorists NZ still in lockdown

Police stop and talk to a driver at a checkpoint in Hawke's Bay. Photo / NZME

Auckland police are reminding drivers the country is still at alert level 4, after noticing increased levels of traffic in the region.

"Police across Auckland have noticed an increased amount of traffic on our roads today and more people out and about in the community," authorities wrote on Facebook yesterday.

"Our communities have done an incredible job of staying in their bubbles but we must remember that we have to continue to do this while alert level 4 restrictions remain in place."

Police warned they will remain "highly visible" over the weekend and there will continue to be "a number of checkpoints across Auckland, including rurally and in the suburbs".

"We will not hesitate to take enforcement action through warnings or arrests if we need to."

Police have appealed for people to remain in their bubbles.

"Let's not undo all the amazing work that has been done this far."

Police stop and talk to a driver at a checkpoint in Hawke's Bay. Photo / NZME

"The Health Notice remains in place outlining what types of outdoor exercise and recreation people may or may not do," the post read.

"We want to thank everyone for their efforts and urge people to keep it up - it is making a huge difference."

Numerous people commented saying they have also witnessed an increase in traffic and people on the streets.

"Northwestern motorway was full-on today and some roadblocks on the main roads north would have been great," one person said.

"The amount of people driving to Cornwall Park and parking in the side streets is ridiculous," another person commented.

Google has been using the tracking it does of New Zealanders to generate reports on people's movements across different parts of the country.

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While overall numbers of traffic are down compared to pre-lockdown times, some numbers have increased in the last few days.

The latest data, from April 11, shows that, in the Auckland region, supermarket and pharmacy trips are down 31 per cent compared to baseline.

However, the previous week, those same trips were down 55 per cent for the same region.

In the Bay of Plenty, the latest Google data shows a drop of 29 per cent in grocery and pharmacy trips. However, that same drop was at 51 per cent the previous week.

Latest police figures show there have been 2078 breaches during lockdown and more than 200 prosecutions.

Of the total, 1605 have been breaches under the Health Act and have resulted in 190 prosecutions, 1381 warnings and 34 youth referrals.

A total of 473 were breaches under the Civil Defence Emergency Act and resulted in 38 prosecutions, 418 warnings and 17 youth referrals.

New Zealanders will find out on Monday whether the country will move down to level 3 next week.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website