Waipā district council offices and facilities closed

Waipā District Council’s Cambridge and Te Awamutu offices, as well as halls, playgrounds and other community facilities across the district will be shut for three days for the government’s response to COVID-19.

These measures follow Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s 6pm announcement on Tuesday 17 August to move to alert Level 4 from 11.59pm Tuesday 17 August. The move was announced in anticipation that genome sequencing would likely indicate the community case of a 58-year-old man in Devonport, Auckland was the Delta variant – a highly infection strain of COVID-19.

Alert Level 4 requires all non-essential businesses to close and New Zealanders to self-isolate in their homes for three days.

Waipā District Council chief executive Garry Dyet said Council would continue to offer essential services to residents, and phone and internet services.

“We’ve done this before and we can do it again. We recognise this might be a fairly stressful time for many and we need to remain calm.

“Much of Council’s services can be accessed remotely so residents will still be able to get in contact with us over the phone or online. We will be doing everything we can to ensure business continues as usual while keeping our staff safe.”

Parks and reserves areas will remain open to the public but residents must practice two-metre physical distancing measures when using these spaces.

“It is still important for people to get out into the fresh air when they can so our parks and green spaces will still be open. It is really important, however, that we keep our distance from each other and put safety first.”

All non-essential businesses in Waipā will be closed until at least 11.59pm Friday 20 August 2021, with Auckland and Coromandel areas closed for a seven day period. Residents can stay up to date on changing alert levels at www.covid.govt.nz and changes to council opening hours at www.waipadc.govt.nz.