Covid-19 electronic sign, State Highway 1, Wellington

item details

NameCovid-19 electronic sign, State Highway 1, Wellington

ProductionMaarten Holl; photographer; 25 March 2020; Wellington

Classificationdigital images

Registration NumberCA001237/001/0010

Credit lineAcquired 2020

Overview

This photograph of an electronic billboard on State Highway 1 in Wellington was taken the day New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4 and went into lockdown. The nation was at Alert Level 4 from 11.59pm on 25 March to 11.59pm on 27 April 2020. The photograph is one of many scenes captured by Te Papa photographers who took their cameras with them when they went on local walks.

The message on the billboard is ‘Essential Travel Only’, and it also gives the address for the government’s Covid-19 website: covid19.govt.nz. During lockdown, anyone who was not an essential worker had to stay home in their 'bubble' to prevent community transmission of the virus. The message to ‘Stay Home. Save Lives’ appeared en masse in streets throughout New Zealand from the end of March 2020, either in poster form or on billboards.