The line outside Pak'nSave Māngere in south Auckland snaked back almost a kilometre. (Video first published on April 3).

Some of the country's most vulnerable communities say they are being unfairly targeted for "flouting" lockdown rules.

It's been a week since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a month-long isolation period to stop the spread of coronavirus, with only a few exceptions for essential workers, for people to do exercise, and food shop.

Midweek supermarket crowds and busy roads have sparked public outrage. And in some areas, extra police officers have been deployed to weed out the rule breakers.

But for more than 300,000 beneficiaries, they have no other option than to join the large queues as midweek paydays dictate when they can buy food.

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When Dennis Taitoko joined the queue outside Pak'nSave Māngere, he was the 79th person in line.

The 54-year-old beneficiary was one of about 400 people who gathered en masse outside the Auckland supermarket on Thursday morning.

The line spilled out onto the main street, spanning almost a kilometre from the front entrance, to the bridge at Bader Drive.

He said he felt vulnerable having to shop on the same day as hundreds of others and was embarrassed some thought he was flouting the rules.

"Some people drove past in their cars and yelled at us to go back home, and that we shouldn't be out there, we should be isolating.

"Well, I would if I had some food."

On Wednesday, Northland doctor Lance O'Sullivan posted a video on Facebook from the main road of Kaitaia, showing a number of cars driving past him.

"This is not what lockdown's about, there is far too many people on the road, far too many cars.

"This isn't lockdown, this is a joke."

As a response to the video, which has been viewed more than 195,000 times, police commissioner Mike Bush said more cops would be deployed to the Far North.

As at December 2019, 314,508 - or about 10.5 per cent of working-age people - received a main benefit, according to the Ministry of Social Development.

Benefits are more commonly paid on a Wednesday or Thursday, with some paid on Tuesdays.

DAVID WHITE/STUFF Grocery shoppers waiting in a queue outside Pak'nSave in Royal Oak, Auckland.

Taitoko receives a supported living benefit from the Government, and after rent and utilities, he has $45 a week for food shopping.

"It's more than what some people get and I'm on my own so it's ok.

"I can only afford to get one or two bits of meat every week so I have to come back every week.

"I found a $20 note [last month] when I went to the vege shop to get my bread and milk.

"It was in the car park, nobody was around so I picked it up and got me a big bag of potatoes, some cabbage, some silverbeet. The potatoes will last me all month, I use them to fill out all my meals."

Government officials have since coined a term that is echoed in their daily media stand-ups: "Stay home, save lives".

But Auckland Action Against Poverty spokesman Ricardo Menéndez-March said that was a line only for the privileged.

"A lot of people, a lot of beneficiaries, are in desperate situations with empty cupboards just before payday.

"They don't have the luxury to stock up, or to plan ahead.

"They're living pay cheque to pay cheque and more commonly, they're living in deficit."

Menéndez-March didn't believe it would ease overcrowding at shops if payment days were spread through the week, not in the long-term anyway.

"The solution to this is the same solution we've always advocated for and that's to increase baseline benefits.

"To stay at home and save lives only works if people are able to stay at home safely.

"When we did advocacy at the Manurewa Work and Income, it was the same thing, we'd see hundreds of people outside lining up to come in.

"If people are living in a deficit and desperate, we're creating situations like the one's we are seeing, with lots of people out on the same days."

Last month, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced main benefits will rise by $25 a week, the Winter Energy Payment will double, and in-work tax credits will be expanded to cover families who lose work as Covid-19 crushes the economy.

MSD spokesman George van Ooyen said emergency payments, including food, can also be loaded onto a person's payment card any day of the week, to be used within seven days.

During the lockdown, reviews have been put on hold and benefits have been automatically extended.