Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Premium
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Covid 19 coronavirus: Shoppers driving to Central Hawke's Bay for baking supplies risk prosecution

CHB Mail
13 Apr, 2020 05:06 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

A significant queue outside Countdown Hastings on Thursday. Some in the region have been driving to Central Hawke's Bay to bypass queues like this. Photo / Paul Taylor

A significant queue outside Countdown Hastings on Thursday. Some in the region have been driving to Central Hawke's Bay to bypass queues like this. Photo / Paul Taylor

Unfamiliar faces have been appearing in Central Hawke's Bay's supermarkets as shoppers break lockdown in search of scarce product lines including baking and cleaning supplies.

Waipawa 4 Square owner Graham Williams said a lot of people had been travelling to the area after not finding what they wanted in the larger centres.

"Word got out that we were reasonably well stocked and people from out of town started turning up. I think some of them are also trying to bypass the queues at larger supermarkets.

"Some have mentioned in passing that they have travelled here to shop. It's worrying."

Queues stretched out the door at some Hawke's Bay supermarkets on Thursday, the day before their planned Good Friday closure.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Williams says he hopes planned police road blocks will deter people and keep them in their local areas.

Police say they are aware of the roaming shoppers, who are at risk of prosecution for non-essential travel.

Central Hawke's Bay community constable Andy Walker says police have powers under the Health Act to stop a vehicle and question the occupants as to the purpose of their trip.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Travel between districts is prohibited unless it relates to an essential business. Unnecessary travel increases the risk of spreading Covid-19.

"Anyone caught travelling between districts without a valid reason will be warned and can be arrested or receive a court summons. It's that serious."

Williams said apart from the unwelcome travellers, the rest of his customers had been "99 per cent fantastic".

"They have been observing the rules, they have been patient and they have been respectful of our staff, who are understandably tired. "

In Waipukurau, New World Supermarket owner Gerard Kennedy is singing the praises of his team who he says will continue to safely provide their essential service "for as long as it takes".

"At a time when everyone has been asked to stay away from each other these guys have donned safety glasses, gloves, Hi Vis, masks and a smile and just plain got stuck in day after day.

"They have put aside the personal worries and concerns that they have as mums and dads and as daughters and sons to focus on delivering in an environment none of us have imagined.

"As a boss I can't demand this of them, it's something they have to want to do and it's been humbling to be a part of. As a business classed as an essential service it's a privilege to be able to open our doors every day."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Roaming shoppers have been bypassing their local supermarket queues in search of shorter lines and scarce products.
Roaming shoppers have been bypassing their local supermarket queues in search of shorter lines and scarce products.
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

Premium
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner
Hawkes Bay Today

Praise for restaurant's response after former deputy mayor dies at family dinner

His family say he will leave a legacy of kindness, and he was surrounded by it to the end.

18 Jul 07:18 PM
Premium
Premium
Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer
Opinion

Gail Pope: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Samoan home shot by Hawke’s Bay photographer

18 Jul 07:00 PM
The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ
Hawkes Bay Today

The 2.2% dream: What we would need to sacrifice to get the lowest rate rise in NZ

18 Jul 06:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP