Essential services in Invercargill will continue to operate during the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown this week, although Council facilities will be closed until at least Saturday.

The Government announced on Tuesday evening that New Zealand would move to COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown at midnight, in response to a confirmed community case of COVID-19.

Invercargill City Council Chief Executive Clare Hadley said teams across Council were working hard to ensure services could continue to support the city while keeping Council staff safe.

“This is an unsettling time for all of us, but the community can feel assured that we have systems in place to ensure the smooth running of our city and its services through lockdown and any other alert level.”

Rubbish collection would continue as normal, and the bus service is operational but limited to only essential workers getting to and from work and those who need to access essential services and don’t have their own vehicles, she said.

A small team of rangers are operating within the parks to ensure the animals are well taken care of.

“If you live close to one of our parks of course you can walk along the routes in your bubble but please remember that all playgrounds are out of bounds during Alert Level 4,” she said.

The library is closed and staff are asking people to not return their books.

All fees had been removed from items, no overdue fines will accumulate and due dates are being extended, she said.

All Council facilities are closed, including the civic administration building, the Bluff Service Centre, Splash Palace, Bluff Pool, Civic Theatre, and He Waka Tuia.

Rates are due on the last Friday of this month, and dog registrations are also due. Both can be paid online but if there are any issues with this people can contact Council customer services.

For a comprehensive list of facilities, services and up-to-date information, people can visit the Council website at icc.govt.nz/covid

Council customer services are in place to take calls and answer questions on 03 211 1777 or freephone 0800 422 435, as well as answering questions via Facebook during business hours.

Teams are also working through plans for Council and committee meetings and will update this information as soon as possible.

“Our team is well-placed to continue to look after our city and its people. We’ve done this before and we’ll do it again,” she said.