Frontline staff dispute the Government's claims they're not keen on saliva testing, and "green flights" are slated for Kiwis stranded in Australia.
Frontline staff are desperate for saliva testing, according to a border worker who contacted 1 NEWS last night.
The worker has shared emails sent to the Ministry of Health expressing concerns around staff suffering nose bleeds and anxiety with continued nasal swab testing. They say they have contacted the Ministry multiple times about the issue.
Figures show just 38 saliva tests have been done in the past two months, with Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins saying many workers aren’t keen on saliva tests.
He says this is because saliva testing needs to be more frequent than nasal swabs and has other requirements around not smoking or eating beforehand.
However, the worker who contacted 1 NEWS says they have had “no opportunity to trial saliva testing".
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Good news for stranded Kiwis
The trans-Tasman bubble will open back up even further this weekend, with Western Australia and the Northern Territory joining Victoria, South Australia, ACT and Tasmania in quarantine-free travel.
The bubble with Queensland and New South Wales remains paused, however green flights for stranded Kiwis in those two states will also begin this weekend. All returnees will need a negative pre-departure test before flying.
The move comes as NSW continues to battle an outbreak of the Delta Covid variant.
The state recorded another 35 new cases yesterday, with 11 of those out in the community while infectious .
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just set out his Government’s plans to end Covid-19 restrictions in England.
Although a final decision will be made next week, officials are aiming to scrap all social distancing measures from July 19 .
The news hasn’t been welcomed by many scientists, who say the removal of all Covid restrictions now is like building new “variant factories”.
Students and staff in abuse survey
Students and teachers across the country will soon be surveyed about sexual abuse and harassment .
Associate Education Minister Jan Tinetti told 1 NEWS the two surveys are a result of new relationships and sexuality education guidelines introduced late last year.
She says she wants to see how embedded the guidelines – which also make education around sexual consent compulsory - are becoming.
The move comes as police investigate recent claims made at Christchurch Girls High , where 60 per cent of their 700 students claimed to have been sexually harassed in the community and 20 people alleged to have been raped.
Opposition parties attack koha
The cultural practice of giving koha is under scrutiny after the Human Rights Commissioner made one to the Mongrel Mob's Waikato chapter.
The commission told Newstalk ZB the $200 koha was provided in accordance with cultural advice given to Chief Commissioner Paul Hunt when he attended a hui in May.
National party leader Judith Collins says Hunt should resign over the move, while ACT’s David Seymour has also called for the commission to be "abolished".
But others have defended the koha . AUT associate professor Ella Henry says koha is bound up in the notion of reciprocity, adding that the $200 gifted by the Human Rights Commissioner had more likely gone to the kaumātua and kuia who had organised the hui.
She says it’s "short-sighted politically" to criticise the commission's actions.
Alarm over some CBD products
Unsuspecting Kiwis have been duped into buying medicinal cannabis products that contain a psychoactive substance, believing they are endorsed by New Zealand celebrities.
A Fair Go investigation has found these customers are being overcharged for the CBD oils and gummies, while testing on the products in question has also produced some alarming results .
AUT associate professor Ali Seyfoddin says some Kiwis are still turning to the black market to get their medicinal cannabis and therefore have no way of knowing what's actually in their chosen medication.
Other news of note this morning:
- The Duchess of Cambridge is in self-isolation after coming into contact with a Covid case.
- New Zealand has just recorded its warmest June , as ski fields struggle to open and experts predict shorter southern winters in the future.
- The country’s leading environmental organisations are urging the Government to slash the nitrate pollution limit in waterways.
- Police have released a video of several brazen robberies in Auckland so the public will be more alert to the thieves’ methods.
- Mataura residents are resting easier now that 10,000 tonnes of aluminium dross by-product has been removed from the town’s old paper mill.
- Amazon has opened its Australian online store up to Kiwi shoppers .
- Seven Sharp has paid tribute to the sanitation workers playing a critical role in the fight against Covid-19.
- And two football matches at Ocean Grove Park in Dunedin have had to be suspended after a pitch invasion by a sea lion .
And finally...
The Great Walks have long been a New Zealand rite of passage but they’re increasingly difficult to do in the age of Covid.
With international travel still mostly off-limits, Kiwis have largely booked up all the tramping spots for the upcoming season.
So, with a Great Walk out of the question for many this year, Seven Sharp’s Rhys Mathewson went looking for some, uh, alternative strolls .
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