What's in the news - Auckland

In this edition of Te Waha Nui Auckland Bulletin, Black Lives Matter march organisers defend social distancing measures, Water restrictions breached, and a man’s death prompts warning for clozapine side effects.

●          The New Zealand Herald is reporting organisers of Auckland’s Black Lives Matter defending social distancing measures after criticism for breaching level 2 rules.

An estimated 4000 people turned out to protest in downtown Auckland on Monday, June 1st marching from Aotea Square to the American Embassy in a show of solidarity after George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Spokeswoman Shalene Williams said the organisers followed rules and did everything else right to keep those attending safe.

"We worked with Auckland Police to reinforce the social distancing message every 5 to 10 minutes.

“We handed out masks, had hand sanitiser available and followed contact tracing protocol."

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said the organisers should be prosecuted for the rule breach and this event is an example of more and more people breaching current rules.

●          Another top story of Auckland media outlets is water restrictions being breached 618 times in 18 days reported by Stuff NZ.

Aucklanders washing cars, water blasting driveways and businesses water blasting properties are the main culprits of breaching the restrictions.

According to Stuff NZ each person found to be breaching water restrictions could be fined up to $20,000.

Over the past week, Aucklanders have used an average of 400 million liters of water a day.

The region has received less than half of the normal rainfall since the start of a drought in November 2019.

According to Watercare chief executive further measures could involve big commercial water users being restricted from operating more than four days a week which would ‘seriously impact on the economy’.

●          A third top story of Auckland news outlets is a man's death in Auckland prompting for more warning of clozapine side effects reported by Stuff NZ.

A district health board is being told to strengthen the warnings on the side effects of clozapine following an Auckland man’s death in 2016.

Daryl Murray, 43, died at his Epsom home on July 21, 2016 from sepsis as a result of mega-colon or abnormal dilation of the colon.

Murray suffered from schizophrenia for most of his life and had been taking clozapine since 1995.

Clozapine is one of the main treatments for schizophrenia.

Clozapine’s potential side effects include fatal constipation or bowel obstruction. This is one of the leading causes of death related to clozapine in New Zealand.

According to medical expert Dr Christopher Kenedi, clozapine works better than any other medication in about one-third of patients.