For all the latest reports from The Spinoff on Covid-19, please see here. Read the work of Siouxsie Wiles here. New Zealand is currently on alert at level 4. Except for basic services, the country is closed. For updated official government recommendations, please see here.
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Evening shift: Jihee Junn
Six new Covid-19 cases have been announced, all of which are confirmed cases and are related to international travel or existing clusters.
It was also reported that a woman in her 80s died. She is a resident of Rosewood Nursing Facility.
The government has announced another US$30 million allocation to meet immediate welfare and food security needs
The isolation and quarantine of all New Zealanders returning from government facilities will continue under a three-level alert.
The takeaway app and Uber Eats' competitor Menulog announced that it will halve restaurant commission rates until the service resumes early next week in June.
Due to the Covid-19 blockade, the deadline for investigating the Christchurch mosque attack has been extended.
A New Zealander in Sweden wrote about life in a country pursuing a herd immunity strategy.
With zero reported cases, the Cook Islands is hailed as the world's largest successful Covid-19 case.
An angry magazine subscriber wrote a few sentences to the head of Bauer, Germany
A supplier receives hundreds of calls from anxious KiwiSaver investors every day, portraying the situation on the front lines of customer service.
Rachel Taulelei of Kono, the food and beverage business, talks about her vision for Maori businesses in the post-Covid world
Susan Edmunds (Susan Edmunds) A very timely excerpt from a novel about a very busy and exhausted mother.
Morgan Godfrey's latest blockade letter.
Sooth your soul and listen to the music of Marlon Williams and Finn Andrews
A simple bread recipe, start your bread making journey
Medsafe has banned the import and sale of all point-of-care Covid-19 test kits unless they are approved. Point-of-care test kits can be used outside of traditional laboratories (for example, at home or at work) and use blood samples to detect antibodies in the blood.
The ban will not affect the testing kit currently used by the Ministry of Health, which will collect tissue samples and send them to the laboratory for positive identification of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Medsafe said it is concerned about the quality of many of these kits and the possible impact of misinterpretation or misleading results. To date, New Zealand has not approved a Covid-19 point-of-care test kit.
The government approved a support package to support local authorities and the Civil Defense Emergency Management (CDEM) team to provide food and welfare assistance. It will provide upfront funding or reimbursement to local food banks, community food organizations, and other welfare providers, and provide funding for emergency accommodation until temporary accommodation can be arranged through MBIE or other arrangements.
Civil Defense Minister Peeni Henare said: “We made an initial investment of US$27 million on March 26 to immediately assist NGOs and community groups in providing services and support to vulnerable groups during the Covid-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown.” "To date, Whānau Ora has also provided more than 118,000 care and hygiene packages."
This morning, RNZ reported that food banks across the country have been overwhelmed by people who need help putting food on the table. The City of Auckland said that during the lockdown, it has distributed more than 1,200 food parcels-twice the usual demand. The number of food grants provided by the Ministry of Social Development has also soared under the four-level alert, reaching nearly 70,000 in just one week.
This is today's top number. The number of active cases has now fallen to 401, continuing the downward trend that began around April 8.
Check out the rest of today's Chris McDowall interactive maps and charts here.
Menulog NZ announced that it will halve the standard commission rate for local restaurants, from 14% to 7%, until June 1, 2020. It will also waive all registration fees for new restaurants joining the platform.
This move was supported by Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Food and Beverage Association. Previously, Uber Eats stated that it "has no plan" to reduce the commission rate by 30-35%, but instead provides $5 million in funding to independent restaurants in New Zealand and Australia.
Unlike Uber Eats, Menulog orders are served by restaurant employees rather than dedicated delivery drivers, which helps significantly reduce costs.
"Our partners in New Zealand told us that the high cost of delivery logistics is not feasible for them, so we are working with many restaurants to help them redeploy their existing employees as delivery drivers and help them through Menulog. The delivery platform accepts online orders," said Morten Belling, Managing Director of Menulog. "Not only does this help keep New Zealanders employed, but it also provides companies with a way to generate orders at a significantly reduced cost."
"In this period of national crisis, the food delivery industry can play a vital role, and Menulog is right to step forward to help our partners so that they can continue to provide services to the communities that need them."
The Menulog application and website will reopen at 7 am on Tuesday, April 28, 2020.
Six new Covid-19 cases have been announced, all of which are confirmed cases.
All of these are related to international travel or existing clusters.
Another death occurred-a woman in her 80s. She is a resident of Rosewood Nursing Facility.
There are now 1,036 recovered cases.
There are currently 11 people in hospital, 2 of them in the intensive care unit, and 1 each in Middlemore and Dunedin Hospitals.
The number of tests processed yesterday reached a record 5,289; it brought the total number of tests to 94,797.
Although the community test is ongoing, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said that the community assessment center is for people with symptoms.
DHBs across the country are coordinating outreach programs to allow more extensive testing of asymptomatic people.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pointed out that returning New Zealanders "will continue to be quarantined and quarantined in government facilities with a three-level alert." This "inner part of our response" has no planned end.
2403 people are currently in "government-provided facilities"; most people are in hotels, and 97 people have symptoms in the quarantine area.
She reiterated that the country is still in the fourth tier and people should not travel on the Anzac weekend.
She said: "Everyone involved in the violation may disrupt the work of others." "I repeat, please don't travel or gather unnecessarily."
As of 6pm yesterday, there were 4,128 violations of the blockade, 433 prosecutions, 3,580 official warnings, and 115 youth referrals.
A prominent issue raised by the media today relates to the criticism raised by the ERC health department representative earlier today-see below for more information.
In addressing concerns about access to flu vaccines, Ardern said, giving priority to providing vaccines to more high-risk groups.
"We provide more flu vaccines than usual," she said.
Bloomfield said the flu vaccine is available through the public and private sectors.
Bloomfield said: "We have begun to advance the flu vaccination program to ensure that our most vulnerable New Zealanders can get the vaccine first." More than 50% of the elderly over 65 have been vaccinated.
Ardern had a particularly intense exchange with a reporter who quoted Kate Baddock of the New Zealand Medical Association as saying that the introduction of the flu vaccine was a "failure."
Bloomfield said that if the Covid-19 vaccine is available, New Zealanders will be able to use it. "You can rest assured that we are already actively working to not only distribute the Covid-19 vaccine, but also to ensure that New Zealand has access to it."
Ardern also talked about personal protective equipment, and there were many criticisms that certain facilities did not get the equipment they needed. The Prime Minister urged those who are experiencing shortages to continue to raise questions in order to solve these problems.
Bloomfield also clarified the criticized comments he made yesterday, confirming that children can infect adults with Covid-19, although this is not common.
PM Jacinda Ardern announced that with the upgrade to Level 3, Auckland's urban rail link will be restarted immediately.
Dr. Ashley Bloomfield announced the extension of the existing Article 70 order and notified us of an amendment: the previous Article 71m required the closure of non-essential workplaces. The amendment will allow companies to prepare for opening before the three-level alert.
In the event of a possible surge in food orders, transitioning to a three-level alert and Uber Eats cutting costs by 30%, Ardern encourages salivating New Zealanders to "look at your favorite local restaurant — I encourage you to support local businesses — —Just to see if they provide delivery service by themselves".
In response to criticism from opposition lawmakers on the checkpoints led by iwi, they called the representatives of these checkpoints “dreading.” Ardern said the feedback she got from people on the ground was that the community has been operating in accordance with the law and ensuring each other’s safety .
The police are working with these communities and she has no problems with how they operate. "No one will tolerate reports of bullying or abuse, but I did not bring them to me."
A question arises about the September election and whether it can be conducted under three-level or two-level conditions. Ardern hedged her bet, saying that there is still enough time to make a decision on it and that the Election Commission is currently working to ensure public safety.
Labor MPs serve again
The Prime Minister expressed his views on the criticism of two Labour MPs. They made comments on small businesses but were later criticized.
At yesterday’s select committee meeting, Deborah Russell questioned why so many small businesses seem to be unprepared for setbacks like Covid-19. Willie Jackson stated that extending the blockade for two working days will not Lead to the disappearance of any business.
Ardern said she disagreed with Russell and Jackon, just like Grant Robertson, then Treasury Secretary.
The briefing at 1:00 this afternoon will be published by a standard pairing of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Dr. Ashley Bloomfield. You can watch the live broadcast here:
Dr. Garth Bennie of the New Zealand Disability Support Network said that the Covid-19 response has created flexibility in terms of income support, contracts and funding budgets.
"These are the things we have been asking for for years, and the irony is that suddenly we are doing all these things in a national crisis... we don't want to lose it when we get out of this crisis. We want to continue to adopt this A flexible approach."
Bennie said that in terms of underlying health, the risk profile of many people in the disabled community is similar to the risk profile of the aged care sector. "The attention to this industry is not what it needs," he said. He believes that part of the solution may be to move the disability funding mechanism from the health sector.
In terms of obtaining PPE-a constant subject in these discussions-Benny said that suppliers are rationing equipment because they have no reliable sources. He worried that the funding provider's expenditure on PPE would not be reimbursed in time.
Queensland, Australia, reported no new cases of Covid-19 for the second time in a week.
7 According to news reports, this means that the total number of cases in the state is currently 1024, and 20 people are currently hospitalized.
Generally speaking, compared with New Zealand, Australia’s restrictions and blockades are lighter, but it has always paid great attention to maintaining social distancing.
For Australia as a whole, the current number of cases is 6,645 and the death toll is 71.
At today’s meeting of the Epidemic Response Committee, the agency representing the pharmacy also criticized the Ministry of Health’s communication and distribution of materials and the lack of government funding.
“The pharmacy is on the front line of the response to Covid-19, but we have not received support,” said Andrew Gaudin of the Pharmacy Association.
Gao Ding said that pharmacies must "knock on the door to get the table" in order to reach the officials. "The reality is that there has been a major struggle for this kind of sustained, viable funding. We are still working to get a clear solution."
He added that "all the techniques" have been used to try to solve these problems within the system, but since that didn't work, the organization now needs to speak publicly.
He called for urgent funding to maintain the survival of pharmacies, because the increase in costs and the decrease in revenue have been hit. Gould said: "We have yet to see clear recognition of continued funding for community pharmacies."
They are currently trying to collect out-of-pocket expenses, as are general practitioner clinics. "This means that community pharmacies usually pay $5 out of their pockets, and the government will cancel the copayment regardless of whether the pharmacy has collected it or not," Gao Ding said. The organization has long wanted to abolish this co-payment system.
The next ERC is Simon Wallace from the Elderly Care Association.
He told the committee that PPE has always been a concern for the industry, and he said that in March, many members of his association had to use their own PPE.
"We had to use DHB to encourage DHB to obtain these equipment. The supply and distribution chain did not work as it should," Wallace said. He pointed out that the situation has improved, but there are still problems in some areas.
The worries here are obvious, if older people contract Covid-19, they are most likely to die.
Wallace predicts that the battle for aged care facilities will continue for a long time. He said: "We will be in lockdown until there are no more cases of the new coronavirus in our nursing homes."
He also called on all people entering the nursing home to be tested for Covid-19 to avoid the outbreak of asymptomatic infections.
As far as the industry’s financial situation is concerned, Wallace said that nursing home income has remained relatively stable, but since the beginning of the lockdown, costs have increased a lot.
The general practice area of the health system became the focus of today's opening ceremony of the Epidemiological Response Committee. Kate Bardock from the New Zealand Medical Association was the first to speak.
She outlined a series of pressures sweeping across the industry, many of which have returned to financial issues.
Bardock said: "We don't know whether certain practices are spared," he said. Funding to support general practitioners has been shelved by the cabinet. She said that a solution is needed this weekend, otherwise some doctors will lose their jobs.
Baddock said that cash flow is a major problem for the clinic, and it now “does exist, it just doesn't exist” because of the way GP funds operate.
Baddock also paid tribute to general practitioners who had to overhaul their system in an emergency because of the lockdown conditions.
"Within 48 hours, we turned 100% face-to-face into more than 90% virtual dating," Bardock said. He said this is based on the experience of Italy, which saw waiting rooms as a dangerous place for the spread of Covid-19 .
However, Bardock is concerned that many patients will either not come for treatment or postpone or cancel the operation.
National Party health spokesperson Michael Woodhouse asked whether a longer blockade would have a more serious impact on overall health because other treatments have been delayed.
Baddock said it was possible, but "I am more worried that patients will not come forward due to restrictions and their belief that the problem can wait."
Baddock also described the issue of flu vaccine distribution as a "complete failure." Despite the country’s vaccine supply, many general practice clinics still struggle to obtain vaccines. Bardock called this a “complete disaster”.
“In this case, we need the ministry to manage the distribution. When we were vaccinated against Covid-19, I didn’t want to see what happened to us with the flu.”
The deadline for the Royal Commission of Inquiry to report the attack on the Christchurch mosque has been extended to the end of July.
Due to the Covid-19 lockdown and the need for remote work, the Royal Commission stated that they have "considerable limitations" in terms of how quickly they can complete their work.
“One of the main restrictions we face is that we cannot access certain parts of the draft report currently stored on a secure and confidential network,” said Commissioner Sir William Young.
Depending on how the lock-in measures change over time, further extensions may be granted.
Earlier this year, the mass murderer who carried out the attack pleaded guilty to all charges.
The Epidemic Response Committee will listen to people interested in the health system today.
The New Zealand Medical Association will be there first at 10 am, followed by the Aged Care Association, the Pharmacy Association, the Disability Support Network and the Dental Association. Finally, the epidemiologist Sir David Skeg will end the day.
Treasury Secretary Grant Robertson publicly condemned Deborah Russell, a Labour backbencher, who had previously pointed out that many small businesses were not prepared to deal with setbacks such as the Covid-19 blockade.
At yesterday’s pandemic response committee, Russell stated that “what worries me is that people enter small businesses without really understanding how to build businesses to survive continued setbacks.”
Robertson said Russell’s statement was unreasonable and said, “When she asked this question yesterday, you would realize that I did not agree with her.”
"It's difficult to move on, and it's difficult to maintain yourself at the best time," Robertson added, saying that the government has worked hard to help them tide over the difficulties.
During the interview, Robertson outlined that more work is underway for future support packages, in addition to those already launched.
Robertson also disagrees with National Party leader Simon Bridges's statement about supporting small businesses to extend the lockdown period. He said his feedback shows that more people want the initial lockdown to be longer, so that future lockdowns will not be needed.
The interview was interrupted by Colin Dan's dog, whose name was Stanley. You can listen to the full interview here.
In the last few hours, Stuff’s most popular story is a summary of Facebook’s response to the post of national leader Simon Bridges criticizing the government for extending the Covid-19 blockade, which was triggered in RNZ’s morning report A very aggressive interview. The host Susie Ferguson first asked whether the National Party's pandemic plan was any different from the current government's pandemic plan. Bridges admitted that it was basically the same plan, and then the interview was transferred to Ferguson to repeatedly cut Bridges. What she said constituted a refusal to answer the question. Ferguson asked him about Facebook's reaction, read his comments on the post, asked him if he had read the tone in the room, and if he had a keen ear for public sentiment before citing the two leaked internal polls she said .
"Can I answer this question, Susie?"
"I should be like the Prime Minister, and make a difference on these issues."
"Please Susie, you asked me a question..."
"I think this is a bit silly."
"Frankly, I don't know what you are talking about."
Finally, she asked him if he had the support of the core team, especially the support of the deputy leader Paula Bennett. "Yes," he replied.
Listen to the full interview here
Taken from our important daily 7am news roundup-sign up for The Spinoff newsletter here
According to Newshub, after health workers have been concerned about the use of personal protective equipment for several weeks, the Auditor General will investigate the handling and distribution of personal protective equipment by the Ministry of Health. In the past few weeks, there have been many examples where the Director General, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield (Ashley Bloomfield) said one thing about the supply of personal protective equipment, and then the field personnel reported a very different thing. For example, in the linked Newshub story, there was a problem of PPE being disinfected and reused-Dr. Bloomfield said last week that this would not happen, but Northland DHB said it happened. The AG's investigation will be partly to coordinate where the flow of information is interrupted.
The survey was welcomed by the union representing health frontline workers. The New Zealand Nurses Association said they found that the high-level information was inconsistent with what its members saw. PSA issued a press release stating that their members are tired of the "empty promises" on PPE. "PSA has been unable to get clear answers from senior DHB and MoH officials on why the distribution of PPE is so unreliable and unbalanced." This is not necessarily a question of whether the entire country has sufficient supplies-it is about sending them to the real world. Logistic challenges where needed. There is no doubt how important personal protective equipment is to the efforts of the entire country-if there is a major outbreak of cases and the decline in health workforce, we will all fall with them.
Radio New Zealand’s Ben Strang reported late last week that importers are concerned that China may soon shut down PPE taps, and importers are already struggling to obtain inventory. There is a small part of manufacturing here, but overall, the system relies on a fairly tight supply chain and the continued goodwill of a country that has enough problems with Covid-19.
A 49-year-old New Zealand man in Peru died after being unable to take a merciful flight home. As the New Zealand Herald reported, his family said he tested positive for Covid-19. Edward Storey is remembered by his family as a kind and compassionate person. Back in New Zealand, another person died and there were 5 new cases in total. The number of people recovering is increasing by dozens every day.
The problem of asymptomatic carriers has a major impact on policy makers. Dr. Siouxsie Wiles has solved the problem actually shown by the data here. It can be said that some media reports on this are a bit misleading, indicating how common asymptomatic is indeed.
According to Newshub, the opposition criticized the government for failing to provide detailed information and data on the impact of the blockade on small businesses. These types of organizations can receive support through a number of programs, including wage subsidy programs and corporate financing guarantee programs. Stuart Nash, Minister of Small Business, before the Epidemic Response Committee yesterday, could not point out any model used by the Cabinet when it decided to extend the lockdown beyond the weekend and the three-level lockdown in the following weeks. He said that the Cabinet believes that extending the blockade now will have a better impact on small businesses, because it means that the possibility of re-blocking will be reduced in the future-the National Party’s Simon Bridges said that there is no data, which is just rhetoric.
Air New Zealand is facing a review of how many employees have been infected with Covid-19. Checkpoint reported last night that staff were uncomfortable with exemptions or quarantine regulations, and there were allegations that a flight attendant was linked to the Bluff wedding cluster. Air New Zealand has 16 international flights a week, and the airline said it is following the guidelines set by the Ministry of Health.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins was interviewed by the media yesterday, partly to discuss concerns about the reopening of schools and ECE. The New Zealand Herald reported that Hipkins promised ECE that they will not be forced to reopen at the third level, although he hopes those who can reopen will do so. An estimate in the report indicates that approximately 70-90% of ECE will reopen, although parental acceptance is not expected to be that high-and the government's message is still that children who can stay at home should do so. Wearing his other hat as the leader of the House of Representatives, Shipkins also confirmed that Parliament will resume its meeting in the main chamber next week, but the number of members on seats is limited.
The Reserve Bank’s move may clear the way for real estate investors to regain control of the market, which is a headache for people. Basically, the Bank of New Zealand is preparing to remove restrictions on the loan-to-value ratio of borrowers-this refers to the amount of deposits someone needs to buy a house. As David Hargreaves of Interest explained, when these LVR rules were introduced, it rebalanced the market so that first-time home buyers could gain a foothold, and at the expense of investors, they must have cash and not just assets to leverage more Many properties. Now with the advent of LVR, there is speculation that this is a desperate move to prevent housing prices from falling too much in the coming inevitable correction. On the other hand, for first-time home buyers who have accumulated a large amount of deposits in Kiwisaver, this may be their lifeline.
Remember when the Office of Serious Fraud investigated NZ First Foundation? The latest news of this story comes from Radio New Zealand. In a rare public statement, the SFO established a timetable for the investigation. Due to the blockade, a specific date has not been given, but it is expected that a decision on whether to file charges will be made before the election. At the same time, Newstalk ZB reported that NZF Foundation trustee Brian Henry was the target of the SFO raid in February.
World Update / This morning I will do something different and pick some numbers from the creepy familiarity (infection; death toll, etc.), but nonetheless, they can still illustrate the scale and complexity of what is happening in the world today sex.
The 26,669 global commercial flights dropped from 52,726 on March 24 (the day before our blockade) to 26,669 on Monday, a 50% drop. However, this underestimates the scale of the decline in air travel, as the equivalent number in late February exceeded 100,000, which includes cargo still in operation. In contrast, Auckland Airport dropped from 132 tracking flights on the same day to 13 yesterday.
-$37.63. This is why the price of oil for delivery in May bottomed close to $38 yesterday. This means that you have to pay $38 to take the barrel of oil you will deliver in May, and it has just returned to positive. The value area is today. In other words, after a substantial recovery, a commodity that affects the world for delivery in May is now trading at approximately US$6 per barrel, which is lower than the US$60 at the beginning of the year.
298% Some broadcasters posted a clue here that most people died of Covid-19 instead of Covid-19. This data set from The New York Times refutes this claim. It shows that the recent mortality rate has increased from 33% in England and Wales to 66% in Spain, to a staggering 298 in New York City compared to the historical average. %.
800,000 This is the number of jobs lost in Australia in just three weeks. In contrast, so far, the equivalent number in New Zealand is about 23,000-an increase in the number of job seekers benefiting. The New Zealand government’s strategy is to allow people to continue working through wage subsidies at least until the lockdown is over. Therefore, although critics have pointed out that Australia has achieved similar results in slowing down the speed of transmission without such a comprehensive blockade, the number of unemployed has increased by about eight times on a per capita basis.
11 Not all bad things. Thailand reported that the number of rare leatherback turtle nests on its beaches was the highest in 20 years of its survey, which coincided with its own blockade.
Other numbers: This morning, we surpassed 2.5 million confirmed infections worldwide, of which only slightly less than 800,000 in the United States. 171,810 people have been confirmed to have died from the virus, although as the New York Times report points out, this may underestimate the impact of the virus, as the overall mortality rate in the worst-hit areas is much higher than that caused by Covid-19 The total number of deaths. This is considered to be a combination of the underestimation of Covid-19 cases that died outside the hospital and the increase in mortality from other diseases due to hospital overload.
There is another death related to Covid-19. A woman in her 70s died in Auckland.
There are five new Covid-19 cases, two have been confirmed and three are possible.
A New Zealand man died in Peru while waiting for a chartered mercy flight to take him home. He was found to have Covid-19 after his death.
U.S. oil prices turned negative for the first time in history.
Donald Trump announced that he will suspend all immigration to the United States.
Scientists call on the government to provide more funds to develop an indigenous vaccine against Covid-19.
Small Business Secretary Stewart Nash and Employment Secretary Willie Jackson both appeared before the pandemic response committee.
The Office of Serious Fraud announced a timetable for investigating donations to the New Zealand Priority Foundation.
The Office of the Auditor General announced an independent review of the Ministry of Health's management of personal protective equipment required for the Covid-19 response.
A whistleblower claimed that Air New Zealand was covering up the number of employees with Covid-19 because it would embarrass the company.
Read all the important stories from yesterday here
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