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One-person rally against Covid lockdown in New Zealand

WION Web Team
Auckland, New ZealandUpdated: Aug 27, 2021, 05:10 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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Local social media pages on Instagram had called for people to come together and protest against a Covid lockdown imposed by the New Zealand government

Anti-lockdown rallies have become a common sight all over the world, but for the first some, a country witnessed a demonstration in which people preferred to stay indoors.

In New Zealand, local police officers started gearing up near the Queen Street on Friday as they heard murmurs of an anti-lockdown rally being planned. However, they only saw one person attending the demonstration.

"Police have been in the area and have spoken to one person who arrived intending to attend the protest. Police spoke to the individual who was encouraged to comply with alert level four restrictions and chose to leave," a spokesman said.

Local social media pages on Instagram had called for people to come together and protest against a lockdown imposed by the government. The Instagram page invited people "who see the bigger picture" to come and raise their voices against the Covid curbs imposed by the government.

These posts also targeted Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and accused her of "destroying the economy" and the job sector.

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This failed attempt at anti-lockdown rally comes a week after nearly 100 people gathered on Queen Street to protest against Ardern’s decision of shutting down the non-essential businesses till Covid cases were controlled in the country. In that rally, four people were arrested.

New Zealand is under a nationwide lockdown for the past couple of weeks as the country is observing a surge in Covid cases, caused due to the Delta variant. There are nearly 346 active cases in the country, which started from one case last week.