Good morning, here’s what you need to know this Wednesday.
New Zealand had its " deadliest day " of the epidemic, and more businesses got into trouble, but there were hopeful signs the virus was coming under control. Meanwhile, thousands of children begin studying from home today after the end of the school holidays.
Home schooling, kind of
Remote schooling starts for hundreds of thousands of children across the country this morning. They'll be working online with programmes prepared by teachers in recent weeks and also be assisted by special shows screening on TVNZ's usual 2+1 channel and on Māori TV.
The arrival of online learning brings concerns for parents helping kids to learn at home. But psychologist Nigel Latta has some advice to take the pressure off. “If you're trying to juggle work and a bunch of other things and the kids don't want to do it and it's just adding stress, don't do it and it will do them no harm at all,” Latta told Seven Sharp.
There are other worries that some children in low decile schools won't benefit from the distance learning as their families move around so much and teachers have lost contact with them since schools shut, the NZ Herald reports .
Economic woes
Finance Minister Grant Robertson this morning announced a series of new measures to provide relief for small and medium-sized businesses. The tax relief will cost $3 billion over the next two years.
The move comes after Burger King became the latest major firm to be hit by the economic impacts of the lockdown, with its fast food restaurants in New Zealand going into receivership. The plan is to restart the business once the lockdown lifts. Also announcing bad news was NZME, owner of the New Zealand Herald, which announced 200 jobs were going and staff were being asked to take a pay cut for 12 weeks.
Economists are warning that it will take a very long time to bounce back even when lockdown is over. BNZ's head of research Stephen Toplis told Stuff any progress would be " glacial ", and surrounded by deep uncertainty.
Risk of 'Russian roulette'
New Zealand has been warned against playing a risky game by coming out of lockdown too early. Sir David Skegg told MPs yesterday that health authorities aren’t yet in a position to keep full track of Covid-19. Referring to next week’s review of Level 4, the epidemiologist said: “I would submit we are asking the Cabinet to play Russian roulette with the health of New Zealanders. As soon as the lockdown is lifted, the epidemic will take off again unless we have the other measures in place,” he said.
It was a day of mixed fortunes for the country in the ongoing efforts to eradicate the coronavirus. The four deaths reported by Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield were the worst single day’s figures and brought the total to nine. But there were just 17 new cases, suggesting the epidemic may be coming under control. "We have had a sad and sobering reminder to stay the course today," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
Politicians not playing ball?
With lockdown heading to the end of week three, some are playing nicer than others. Former MP Hone Harawira was under fire for driving 300km to Auckland and having breakfast at his sister’s over Easter, against all advice not to travel. The trip came just a week after he set up unofficial roadblocks to prevent visitors bringing Covid-19 to the Far North. He said he was collecting medical supplies from Auckland.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said controversy over a photo he posted of himself fishing from his property was a case of “ making a marlin out of a sprat ”.
Worldwide cases near 2 million
Globally, cases of Covid-19 approached the 2 million mark overnight according to Johns Hopkins University which is monitoring the situation worldwide and constantly updates this map .
The US continues to be hard hit but Donald Trump showed a video at a press conference supposedly proving the good job his administration has been doing. Critics pointed out it missed virtually the entire month of February when chances to contain the epidemic in the US were arguably missed. Needless to say he didn't react well to that - CNN called his response “ An unchained presidential tantrum ”.
Elsewhere, the lockdown debate went in different directions:
• Austria and Italy moved to begin loosening restrictions, with some shops getting to open their doors.
• The UK said there was no chance of lockdown lifting for now as it continues to have hundreds of Covid-19 deaths each day.
• India extended its total lockdown, which is hitting the poor hardest, until May 3.
And finally…
Comedian Melanie Bracewell finds her fame spreading far and wide after her impressions of Jacinda Ardern went global . The BBC is the latest international media outlet to feature her work, saying: "Her clips on TikTok have now been watched by thousands across the world, and garnered her many fans - including Ms Ardern herself." Ms Bracewell says she's a huge fan of the Prime Minister and the way she's handling the crisis.
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