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

New Zealand will go to Alert Level 2 at 11.59pm on Wednesday, but a staggered move means that not all companies will be back online immediately on Thursday. Get all the important news and read the full stories at the links below.

Key developments in New Zealand

• New Zealand will go to alert level 2 at 11:59 pm on Wednesday. On Thursday, retail stores, shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, and other public spaces may reopen, but schools will resume next Monday and bars must wait 10 days. All require physical distance, while health services will also be restarted. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern did not think Tier 2 would “necessarily” be in place any longer than Tier 3, but it depended on factors such as the number of new Covid-19 cases, after only three new cases were confirmed today. Border restrictions would remain for a long time, as would the expectation that the public would observe hand hygiene practices.

• Life at level 2 means that we can resume many of our favorite hobbies and see our friends again. You can expect the doors of some closed businesses to open, but life as we know it will take on a new normal. Here is everything you need to know about what life will be like at level 2.

• Medical experts say now is the time to “move on” and eliminate the backlog of tens of thousands of postponed surgeries as the country moves to Level 2. Urgent and semi-urgent elective surgeries resumed at Level 3 and more than These, including nonacute cases, are likely to take place in public and private hospitals during level 2. Like levels 3 and 4, primary care consultations should be by phone or video call if it’s possible.

• A woman who tested positive for Covid-19 had been in an Auckland jail for 10 days after refusing to be examined when she arrived from the United States. The woman in her 20s agreed to take the test when she appeared in court last Friday. She was rescued after it was confirmed that the test had been done, but before the result was known. During her time at Auckland Women’s Prison, the woman was quarantined and had no contact with other prisoners.

Business update

• Thousands of New Zealand office workers will be able to leave their homes and return to work at level 2, but with restrictions in hallways, bathrooms, elevators, kitchens, meeting areas, reception, desks, shared spaces and equipment, like life from the office significantly changes

• This week the Herald He will share the stories of the Kiwi businesses that have been forced to adapt in a post-Covid 19 world, shedding light on all the incredible work being done to help our country recover.

• All eyes will be on Finance Minister Grant Robertson on Thursday when he unveils the budget. National finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith has written about his concern over a misguided, high-spending budget, describing what he would be doing if he were finance minister.

Worldwide

• Like many world leaders, Taiwan Vice President Chen Chien-jen is fighting to keep the coronavirus at bay and to predict the course of the pandemic. But unlike most officials, Chen has spent his career preparing for this moment, is a Johns Hopkins-trained epidemiologist and a virus expert, and Taiwan has been praised for his response.

• An infectious outbreak can end in more ways than one, historians say. But for whom does it end and who decides? This is how previous pandemics have ended.

• Covid19.govt.nz – The official government Covid-19 advisory website

Joking

• New Zealand Rugby has confirmed that Super Rugby Aotearoa will start on June 13. The competition will see the five Kiwi Super Rugby clubs playing against each other at home and away from home for 10 weeks, with two games every weekend, at 5.05pm on Saturdays and at 3.05. pm on sundays. Matches will be played in closed stadiums until the government advises on an approach to managing mass gatherings in controlled venues that will allow fans to return. The domestic Miter 10 Cup will begin on September 11.