Perspective: with Heather du Plessis-Allan - Are people going to break rules?
Scientists are sounding the alarm over New Zealand's readiness to move to level 3 as the Government clarifies rules for schooling and invests an extra $275 million into their health response. Get all the important news and read the full stories in the links below.
Key developments in NZ
• There are 13 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, with eight new confirmed cases and five new probable cases, bringing the total of confirmed and probable cases in New Zealand to 1422. The number of people who have recovered from Covid-19 is 867 - up 51 on yesterday's number – and there have been no further deaths. However, there are 20 people in hospital with Covid-19, including three people in ICU – one each in Middlemore, Dunedin and North Shore hospitals. Two of these ICU patients – in Dunedin and North Shore – are in a critical condition.
• Scientists are sounding the alarm behind closed doors at the Ministry of Health over New Zealand's readiness to move to more relaxed pandemic settings. Their concerns centre on the ministry's ability to rapidly trace close contacts of Covid-19 cases and an outdated surveillance system - described by one insider as a "dinosaur". If those weak spots cannot be urgently addressed, it could significantly affect the Government's confidence in moving to alert level 3 when Cabinet considers the issue on Monday.
The Government has clarified rules for schools at level 3. Photo / Alex Burton
• Parents will be told when their children are going back to school, rather than being given a choice in whether to attend classes. Officials admitted to a "mis-step" in the way rules for level 3 were communicated this week, and confirmed that going back to school will not be "voluntary". Principals' Federation president Perry Rush says Ministry of Education head Iona Holsted has confirmed that schools will be able to enrol students on their physical sites during level 3 only if no one is available to care for them at home. Where possible, students should remain at home connected to distance learning. Where parents or caregivers need to, they can send their children to school.
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• More than $275 million will be spent on bolstering New Zealand's health response to Covid-19, including $200m earmarked for buying personal protective equipment. Pharmac will also be getting more money so it can buy essential medicines, and close to $30m will be provided to rest homes "to keep Covid-19 at bay". Health Minister David Clark said that in the next eight weeks, the Government expected 75 million items of PPE to be delivered into New Zealand, including 17 million masks, more than two million gowns and coveralls, and 13.8 million gloves.
Around the world
• All eyes are on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who on Monday will reveal whether New Zealand will come out of level 4 lockdown next week. As the Government mulls its next move, here are how other countries around the world are loosening their lockdowns.
• The central Chinese city of Wuhan has raised its number of Covid-19 fatalities by 1290, with state media saying the undercount had been due to the insufficient admission capabilities at overwhelmed medical facilities at the peak of the outbreak. Questions have long swirled around the accuracy of China's case reporting, with Wuhan in particular going several days in January without reporting new cases or deaths. That has led to accusations that Chinese officials were seeking to minimise the impact of the outbreak. Wuhan's revised death toll of 3869 is the most in China. The number of total cases in the city of 11 million was also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China's total 82,367 announced cases.
A mother and daughter wearing face masks wait to cross a street in New York. Photo / AP
• Residents in London and New York are being told to cover their faces with masks or other items of clothing to protect against coronavirus. New rules requiring New York residents to cover up went into effect today, as social distancing measures have been extended for another month by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York has been in lockdown since March 22 and will stay that way until at least May 15 as it battles the worst coronavirus outbreak in the US. In London, Mayor Sadiq Khan broke ranks with medical bosses and urged people to wear masks or face coverings in public if they cannot maintain a safe distance, after at least 20 transport workers died of coronavirus. The UK's lockdown will last until at least May 7.
Business update
• The kitchens may be closed and the chefs' knives sheathed, but blood is being shed in Auckland's restaurant scene. To the groans of lousy cooks across the nation, New Zealand's level 4 lockdown on March 26 abruptly snuffed out the country's entire hospitality industry. No essential services exemption was provided to either the McDonald's drive-through or the white tablecloths of Auckland's fine dining waterfront, and millions of dollars are being lost despite wage subsidies. Yet the prospect of a possible level 3 let-up this Thursday has Auckland's best restaurants looking to cater once again via polystyrene packages and waiters on electric scooters.
Businessman Rob Fyfe. Photo / Doug Sherring
• Rob Fyfe, who has been catapulted into the national coronavirus command centre, wants business to prepare for living in a "Covid-19 world" for the foreseeable future. The 58-year-old former chief executive of Air New Zealand was shoulder-tapped by the Prime Minister to be a liaison between her Government and the private sector. He's been in the Wellington bunker for nearly four weeks now and sounded a caution, saying New Zealand businesses need to prepare for a long haul.
• Warriors coach Stephen Kearney will not compel any member of his squad to relocate across the Tasman to play in a reconfigured NRL competition, nor will he hold any prejudice against a player that decides not to make the trip. There is still doubt over when or if the competition will restart, though the NRL has undertaken to provide answers for the Warriors, who have the most pressing concerns ahead of the mooted restart on May 28. Kearney wants to take his strongest squad, but he has empathy for the predicament of his players, and will leave it up to them to decide if they want to play.
Check our graphic for the latest case numbers in New Zealand.
