Protesters Stage Peaceful Anti-Lockdown Rally In New Zealand's Auckland - Reports

Protesters Stage Peaceful Anti-Lockdown Rally in New Zealand's Auckland - Reports

Thousands of protesters have staged a peaceful anti-lockdown rally in the city of Auckland in New Zealand on Saturday, the public Radio New Zealand broadcaster reports

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th September, 2020) Thousands of protesters have staged a peaceful anti-lockdown rally in the city of Auckland in New Zealand on Saturday, the public Radio New Zealand broadcaster reports.

The protest took place at the city's Aotea Square on Saturday afternoon and was led by the co-leaders of the opposition Advance Party. There was little social distancing and few people wore masks but police officers believed that enforcing these measures would have turned the peaceful protest violent, according to a statement given to the broadcaster.

"[It was] possible that attempts to enforce Alert Level restrictions would have caused tension in an otherwise peaceful protest, without being effective in managing physical distancing of participants," law enforcement officials said in the statement.

After a 102-day period with no new local cases of the coronavirus disease, four positive tests were registered in Auckland on August 11. The epidemiological situation prompted the government to temporarily reintroduce Level 3 lockdown measures in the city, which allow people to leave their homes only for essential journeys.

Level 2 measures are currently in force in Auckland, although social gatherings in the city must not involve more than 10 people, in comparison to the 100-person limit in the rest of the country.

Since the start of the pandemic, the New Zealand Ministry of Health has registered 1,795 probable or confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease. On Saturday, two new positive tests were reported in the country.