Covid 19 coronavirus: What you need to know about Wednesday's big developments

There are two new cases of coronavirus in New Zealand, and one further death, while big decisions loom for the Government as they prepare to reveal what life will look like at level 2. Get all the important news and read the full stories in the links below.

Key developments in NZ

• New Zealand could be moving down to level 2 as early as next Wednesday - but how much more freedom will that give people? Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will reveal the exact details on Thursday but going to the gym, movies and restaurants already look set to be back on the cards, with some restrictions. The Herald spoke to a range of sector leaders to see what life at alert level 2 could, and should, look like and whether life will start returning to normal.

There could be more sport - and more activity on our beaches - at level 2. Photo / Michael Craig

• There are two new cases of Covid-19 and one person has died of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. Another resident of the Rosewood Rest Home in Christchurch has passed away, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield confirmed. Twelve people from the rest home have now died and the death toll related to Covid-19 in New Zealand stands at 21. Bloomfield said a review of relatives being able to visit dying family under level 3 was well underway.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Photo / Getty

Listen live to Newstalk ZB's coronavirus coverage

• There were tears and a flood of emotions at the Epidemic Response Committee this morning, as members of the public shared their heartbreaking stories of suffering during lockdown. The stories come as the Government begins the process of deciding whether or not New Zealand is ready to move into level 2. Cabinet will make that call on Monday, but before it does, Bloomfield says more data is needed - and officials won't know if it's safe to move to level 2 until the end of this week.

• Elite New Zealand schools have claimed millions through the Government's wage subsidy, many of them while still charging full fees to students. Schools collecting full tuition fees said they were suffering as badly as any exposed business during the Covid-19 pandemic because they had lost income from international students and boarding fees. However, at least one of the schools is now paying the money back after it overestimated the losses it would make.

Business update

• Small and medium businesses are 97 per cent of all business in New Zealand, and employ around 630,000 people - 29 per cent of all New Zealand employees. It's the small businesses making up the backbone of our economy that truly need protecting, and the Herald is launching The Pivot Pod, to help small businesses get answers through the Covid-19 crisis.

• The official unemployment rate has risen to 4.2 per cent for the first quarter of the year. That's not quite as bad as economist expectations, although the data collection largely pre-dates the lockdown - and the number is expected to rise sharply to between 8 and 10 per cent by the end of the year. The latest numbers showed the economy had been in strong shape heading into the Covid-19 lockdown, Stats NZ said, but the head of Westpac says although a strong post-covid bounceback is possible, the pandemic is likely to lead to a sharper downturn than that seen after the Global Financial Crisis or 1987 sharemarket crash.

• Some of the country's largest retailers are struggling to meet demand as the number of online orders soars amid physical shops remaining closed under lockdown. Some retailers, including The Warehouse, Farmers, Rebel Sport, Kathmandu and Whitcoulls, have been forced to put up notices on their websites warning of "unprecedented demand" and delays to standard delivery times, with some warning shoppers that they face wait times of up to 14 days for orders to be processed and sent out.

Around the world

• Despite a century's progress in science, 2020 is looking a lot like 1918. In the years between two lethal pandemics, one the misnamed Spanish flu, the other Covid-19, the world learned about viruses, cured various diseases, made effective vaccines, developed instant communications and created elaborate public health networks. Yet 102 years on, the world seems still unable to crush an insidious yet avoidable infectious disease before hundreds of thousands die from it.

• In New York City, the daily onslaught of death from the coronavirus has dropped to half of what it was. In Chicago, a makeshift hospital in a lakefront convention centre is closing, deemed no longer needed. And in New Orleans, new cases have dwindled to a handful each day. Yet across America, those signs of progress obscure a darker reality.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

The last word

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have key decisions to make in the coming days. Photo / Getty

• The key to having the country waltz into nationwide lockdown with little to no grumbles was "sharing all of the information", according to Jacinda Ardern. So, as people start to get itchy lockdown feet in the lead-up to Cabinet's decision on Monday, you'd think there would be a concerted effort to give us the fullest Covid-19 picture possible, writes Derek Cheng. But we are still in the dark on many questions that Covid data should be able to answer, begging the question: will Cabinet's huge decision be similarly hamstrung?