Covirus 19 coronavirus: what you need to know about Friday’s big developments

New Zealand has recorded its fewest Covid-19 cases since the level 4 block began, and the government has moved to further clarify how we can live, work, and play if new level 3 rules are implemented. Get all Important news and read the full stories at the links below.

Key developments in New Zealand

• There are two new deaths and eight new cases of coronavirus in New Zealand, confirmed director of public health Caroline McElnay. The death toll from coronavirus is now 11. One of the new deaths occurred at Waikato Hospital, a 90-year-old man who died yesterday. His infection was linked to the Matamata group. A woman in her 80s also died at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch, and was among the group that moved out of the Rosewood rest home, where another group was identified. Seven Rosewood people have died, while five other cases remain in stable condition at the hospital. McElnay said there could be more deaths from the Rosewood group. Altogether, there have been 1,409 cases of coronavirus in New Zealand. Fourteen people are in the hospital, three in the ICU and two in critical condition. The Government will continue to conduct specific tests of Covid-19 at “hot spots” across the country in an accelerated effort to get a “general picture” of the scope of community broadcast.

• Teachers have reacted angrily to the new coronavirus alert system level 3 rules, which they say will put them at risk, making them “babysitters” and using “teachers and children as slaughtered lambs.” However, Finance Minister Grant Robertson responded to those concerns, detailing that New Zealand schools will at least have a week after the announcement that Level 4 will rise to prepare for children to re-enter. Their doors.

• As New Zealand waits for Monday’s announcement to see if the country will move up to Level 3, the Herald has found answers to some of the burning questions about what will and will not be allowed if the Level 4 blockade is lifted.

Listen live to Newstalk ZB coronavirus coverage

Thoroughly

• As New Zealand’s strict closure continues, some have begun to look enviously at Australia’s more relaxed restrictions. But is the grass really greener over the ditch? Kirsty Johnston reports.

• You may have seen the arguments. New Zealand overreacted by blocking. Many of those who would die from Covid-19 would likely have died at any time. Right now, the economy should come first. Scientific journalist Jamie Morton puts some facts around six of those common points that permeate social networks.

Worldwide

• The UK will remain locked up for “at least” three more weeks when Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, urged the British public to be patient. Raab, who replaces Prime Minister Boris Johnson while recovering from Covid-19, said lifting the blockade measures would risk a second spike with more deaths and a second blockade. “We have gone too far, we have lost many loved ones,” Raab said, adding: “There is light at the end of the tunnel.” He stressed that the government would not relax its blockade unless five of its red lines were met.

• Faced with a global fight over materials, British officials bought millions of untested kits from China in a gamble that became a disgrace. The two Chinese companies offered a risky proposition: Two million home test kits are said to detect antibodies to the coronavirus for at least $ 33 million, take it or leave it. Under mounting public criticism for its slow and unstable response to the coronavirus crisis, British officials accepted the deal, according to a senior official involved, and confidently began promising tests that would be available in pharmacies in just two weeks. . There was a problem, however. The tests did not work.

Business update

• Sir John Key has issued a warning about how the New Zealand economy will be in trouble as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but believes that New Zealand is in a better position than many countries to beat it. The former prime minister believes that New Zealand will suffer through several years of a “recessive environment” due to the damage the coronavirus is currently causing and the resulting national blockade, but argued that the factors that often harm New Zealand have become in important advantages in the search to overcome the pandemic.

• McDonald’s is preparing for a mega reopening across the country, if the closure restrictions are eased next week. When McDonald’s restaurants across the country closed due to closure, it was the first time that many of their 24-hour restaurants closed. As a result, the business is now faced with a gigantic and logistically challenging task of resupplying and reopening 130 of its 170 outlets as New Zealand potentially goes to Alert Level 3, allowing access for direct access. Around 10,000 employees are being trained to comply with the new rules.

Joking

• The Minister of Sports has delivered the news that Kiwi sports fans did not want to hear: there will be no sport in New Zealand at alert level 3. While there will be chances of matches being played at level 2, for now , the sport will remain on the sidelines, and the government has also cast doubt on the NRL’s bold plan to resume its season next month.

Check our chart for the latest case numbers in New Zealand.