The four-tiered Covid-19 alert system that New Zealand has been following since March may be in for a bit of tweaking following the resurgence of the virus in Auckland.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield suggested yesterday that “normal” life might look a bit different in the future with a potential alert setting between Levels 1 and 2.
He says New Zealand’s “new normal” may include more physical distancing and possibly the use of masks in some settings.
Dr Bloomfield has also denied testing failures at the border and says the Government wasn’t misled over the issue.
Instead, he says there may have been miscommunication and that people are “working around the clock” to ensure border staff testing is scaled up.
That move comes as health authorities still work to contain the current Auckland cluster, with nine new cases of Covid-19 confirmed in the community yesterday.
The list of places where people with the virus visited also continues to grow and now includes Botany Mall, a fitness class and a guinea pig show .
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Pasifika leaders’ fears
Health leaders also fear a 'wildfire' outbreak of Covid-19 in the Pacific community if the government doesn't act fast.
Pasifika people account for 69 per cent of the current Auckland cluster and the University of Auckland’s Dr Collin Tukuitonga says that’s cause for serious concern. He says the conditions for “wildfire community transmission” are rife in south Auckland, threatening the whole community .
The new outbreak is causing concern for several Māori and Pacific leaders throughout the rest of New Zealand, too.
The Spinoff’s Leonie Hayden has detailed how they’re hoping for the best but planning for the worst here .
MPs wind back clock
MPs are heading back to the Beehive today following Jacinda Ardern’s decision to delay the general election by four weeks . With the election set for October 17, Parliament now won’t be dissolved until September 6.
The delay has had the tick of approval from all the major political parties.
National’s Judith Collins says she’s “perfectly happy” to work with the new date, although she did raise fears about postal papers harbouring Covid-19 if that voting method winds up playing a bigger role.
New Zealand First’s Winston Peters also welcomed the new election date, saying he’s pleased “common sense has prevailed".
The Greens, meanwhile, took a swipe at the other parties, with co-leader Marama Davidson encouraging all politicians to accept the new election date and “to stop undermining the public’s faith in the democratic process”.
Ms Ardern says she doesn’t intend to change the election date again.
More support for businesses
Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced new support for Kiwis in the wake of the second outbreak of Covid-19.
The Government’s mortgage deferral scheme has now been extended until March next year, while a new wage subsidy scheme is also being rolled out.
The new subsidy requires a business to have a 40 per cent drop in income instead of the 30 per cent threshold from the previous scheme.
National says it supports the extended wage subsidy , but says Kiwis are still paying a “heavy price” for the Government’s “border failures”.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s sharemarket rebounded strongly yesterday following Friday evening’s Covid-19 Alert Level decision and the confirmation of a new election date.
Senior students get green light
The Ministry of Education will today confirm the date Auckland’s Year 12 and 13 students can return to school after the Government agreed to give schools the flexibility to bring senior students back under Alert Level 3 .
Several health requirements will still need to be in place with physical distancing and students organised into bubbles of no more than 20 people.
Auckland Grammar headmaster Tim O'Connor told RNZ’s Checkpoint he’s “ecstatic” about the decision, saying “any form of face-to-face contact is great for our young people".
Headaches over checkpoints
Delays at road border checkpoints are causing disruptions for the moving of essential supplies in and out of Auckland.
Pukekohe vegetable growers are warning checkpoints in their area could slow the flow of produce to supermarkets and other retailers, too.
And National MP Andrew Bayly says he’s also been contacted by people frustrated they can’t travel into Auckland for work.
It comes as police yesterday introduced three new traffic stops to restrict travel through the region during lockdown. There are now 13 checkpoints at the northern and southern borders of Auckland.
Other news of note this morning:
Police say issuing fines could be a possibility for Auckland’s Level 3 rulebreakers.
Mental health helplines have noticed a spike in calls since news of the new Covid-19 cases broke.
Legal experts are predicting an unprecedented jail term for the Christchurch gunman when his sentencing takes place next week.
Watercare’s CEO Raveen Jaduram has resigned from his $755,000 job as Auckland continues to struggle through drought.
The Herald reports (paywalled) the Warriors could be forced to drop their main sponsor, Vodafone, due to a conflict with the NRL’s naming rights sponsor, Telstra.
Trade Me has removed a Hamilton boy’s listing for a ‘Covid-free bag of air’ .
And it’ll all end in tears... Finance Minister Grant Robertson and National’s Paul Goldsmith are set to face each other in a game of Monopoly to raise money for the Cancer Society.
And finally...
Pieces of Lego go missing all the time – but it’s not often they go missing up a child’s nose for a couple of years.
Dunedin boy Sameer Anwar said he had a piece of Lego stuck in his nose two years ago, but when his parents and his doctor couldn’t see it, they assumed it had magically disappeared.
They assumed wrong. Because (*cue dramatic music*) that piece of Lego reappeared last weekend ...
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