Police give green-light to large church services and places of worship allowed to open again, contradicting PM's stance
Police today released new enforcement guidelines suggesting that large religious services during Alert Level 2 will be allowed to resume, provided they keep to physical distancing and remain in groups of 10. We can reveal the new guidelines issued by police today would potentially allow dozens to attend a service at any one time. It contradicts the position taken by the Government - and reiterated by the Prime Minister - that a maximum cap of 10 people remains. However, police say if the venue size allows, multiple groups of 10 could be present at a religious service so long as each group remained two metres apart. Appropriate contact tracing would also need to be kept.
“There is no longer a direction for all premises to close. The community is able to resume various day-to-day activities. Places of worship may now open. “This assumes that people involved do comply at all times with the distancing restrictions and don’t, for example, mingle more widely at the end of a service,” the guidelines say. Police were forced to clarify the rules after questions were raised regarding its internal guidelines issued last week. It suggested places of worship would likely be viewed as “event facilities”, therefore allowing up to 100 attendees while suggesting refreshments to followers after a service would also be permitted. Earlier this week National Party MP Simeon Brown called for greater clarity. “I am calling on the Government to clarify this matter urgently…I am also calling on the Government to release any internal police guidance on these matters. “Kiwis have the right to know how tough restrictions imposed by Government are going to be interpreted and enforced,” he said. The Prime Minister responded on Monday, insisting Crown Law advice on religious services was clear and reiterated a cap of 10. “Crown Law considered that religious services fall under the definition of gatherings…so obviously that’s where I look to,” Jacinda Ardern said. In its guidance today, police urged officers to use “discretion and common sense” when attending a place of worship in an operational capacity.
=========================================================
“We need to remember that faith is a very important aspect of many New Zealanders' lives and therefore need to be treated using high levels of empathy and sensitivity.”
=========================================================
Poll: Should drivers retake the theory test every 10 years?
Drivers get where they need to go, but sometimes it seems that we are all abiding by different road rules (for example, the varying ways drivers indicate around a roundabout).
Do you think drivers should be required to take a quick driving theory test every 10 years?
Vote in the poll and share any road rules that you've seen bent! 😱
-
49.5% Yes
-
48.6% No
-
1.9% Other - I'll share below
Here's Thursday's thinker!
I am lighter than air, but a hundred people cannot lift me. What am I?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Why make picking up reserved library books harder? What do you think? Challenge: Write the last stanza for the first poem attached below.
Once books are reserved in Auckland Libraries books, when they are available no longer go alphabetically by customer but instead go into a Holds pickup shelf number based presumably somehow on when each book needs to be picked up by.
I had two books reserved that arrived on two different days in the Blockhouse Bay Library and hence each book has a different shelf number. Hard to find unless you knew the shelf number in the notification email. Even if you knew the shelf number I found myself three books by the same author on the two shelf numbers.
More recently yesterday a book I reserved was on a different shelf number than was specified in my notification email (see image below).
Sadly it is clear from library staff that a numerical system for reserves is here to stay.
I suggest that so that all books for each person has the same shelf number, the shelf number becomes the last digit of a person's library card (0-9).
Within each shelf number a book is found under the day the reserve arrives in the library (01 to 31, hopefully the same date the email is sent).
Since a customer appears to have 10 days to pick up a book, ten days of the month would appear to be required at any time (for each digit 0-9).
Once there are 10 days used the next day's reserves could go back at the beginning of the shelf number after any remaining books not collected (hopefully none) are removed (along with the old day number and the new day number (01 to 31) inserted) after the last day available and future days' books remaining moved forward to make room.
Each day number (01-31) would appear once for each shelf number (0-9) before the first book on that day- perhaps cover an old withdrawn book with paper with each day number on the spine?
When a reserved book arrives in the library the last digit of the library card could be placed on a piece of paper in the book to be removed when it is put on the shelf, to be recycled the next day.
What do you think?
See the image below and page 3 below for a letter appearing in the Western Leader on 9 September:
www.neighbourly.co.nz...
Loading…
