Police say a protester who needed medical attention within New Zealand’s Parliament grounds last night had to wait for ambulance staff to get through the roads blocked by vehicles.
The protest against covid-19 protection measures is now entering its fifth day with police saying new tents and marquees were erected yesterday while police have strengthened protective barriers.
There are now three barriers between protesters and police in some places on Parliament grounds. This morning concrete blocks were placed before the orange and white plastic barriers.
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A Ministry of Health statement said daily covid-19 cases in the community had reached a new high, up slightly to 454 today.
The new cases were in Northland (12), Auckland (294), Waikato (72), Bay of Plenty (23), Lakes (8), Hawke’s Bay (7), MidCentral (5), Taranaki (1), Wellington (5), Hutt Valley (12), Wairarapa (2) and Southern (13).
There are 27 people in hospital with the coronavirus, although none are in ICU.
There were just eight cases reported at the border today, with travellers from India (3), Australia (1), Saudi Arabia (1), United Arab Emirates (1) and the United Kingdom (1).
There was a record 446 cases in the community reported yesterday with 32 cases in MIQ.
Ambulance for protester blocked on road
In a statement, Superintendent Scott Fraser said police remained at Parliament grounds overnight to monitor the activity of protesters.
Earlier in the evening, a protester within the grounds needed medical attention, but this was delayed because an ambulance was unable to drive directly to him due to the protesters’ vehicles blocking the surrounding roads.
Molesworth Street remains blocked by more than 100 vehicles including large trucks, campervans and cars.
Fraser said ambulance staff had to walk “some distance” to get to the man, who was waiting with officers.
‘Empathy and professionalism’
“Despite the very difficult environment, our staff, and our Wellington Free Ambulance colleagues, acted with empathy and professionalism, ensuring this man got the medical treatment he needed.”
Fraser said there was one arrest overnight for a breach of bail conditions, but there had been no arrests this morning.
A deluge from Cyclone Dovi is expected to drench anti-mandate protesters.
MetService has issued a heavy rain warning for Wellington which will be in place until 3pm Sunday and strong winds are forecast in the capital today.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
