Covid 19 coronavirus: what you need to know about Saturday’s big developments

As leading companies prepare for a hopeful return to level 2 in the next two weeks, another death has brought New Zealand’s coronavirus number to 20. Get all the important news and read the full stories at the links below .

Key developments in New Zealand

• Claims that all community roadblocks have a police officer present collapsed less than a day after they were performed, and police headquarters now admits that there was no officer in a roadblock on the state highway 1 where motorists were denied travel. Initially, the police claimed that the officer was there, but now admitted that he was absent for 70 minutes. The incident unfolded less than 24 hours after new police commissioner Andy Coster said Parliament’s epidemic response committee checkpoints now had a police presence “to make them legal.”

• There are six new cases of Covid-19 today and the Ministry of Health reports that another person has died of coronavirus. George Hollings, a Rosewood Rest Home resident in his 80s, died at Burwood Hospital in Christchurch of the virus early this morning. There are now 20 people who have died from Covid-19 in New Zealand. Five of today’s cases can be traced to a known source, the ministry says. The total of confirmed and probable cases is 1485, with 1263 – 85 percent – reported as recovered. There are five people in the hospital and none in the ICU, while three groups are now considered closed.

• Auckland’s top police chief is working with a Viaduct bar owner who wants to throw a “dummy” party with 100 of his “best friends” when the country goes to Alert Level 2. While kiwis across the country bars and restaurants await To open, Leo Molloy’s gathering at headquarters has provided insight into what might become the new normal under level 2 in hospitality. Guests will receive a temperature control at the door and must provide their names, addresses and telephone numbers. A gorilla will patrol the dance floor making sure partygoers stay 1 meter away, kissing will be prohibited, and the police will conduct spot checks to make sure people follow the rules. Molloy is in contact with Auckland Central Area Inspector Commander Gary Davey and the liquor licensing agency to ensure the private party can continue on May 15, if the country has passed to level 2.

Thoroughly

• Excused justification, obfuscation and omission?: The closure meant closing businesses, closing people in their own homes, and canceling weddings and funerals. However, we accept it. the Herald Discuss how Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s words were as important as science in New Zealand’s response to Covid-19.

• It was the worst case scenario that health officials feared: the deadly coronavirus that entered a nursing home. The 11 deaths in Christchurch’s nursing home, Rosewood, now represent the deadliest group in New Zealand. How did it all happen? Kurt Bayer reports.

Business update

• Small airlines warn that they are on the verge of failure and that without a relatively small cash injection, smaller communities could be left without air connections permanently. The largest of the second and third tier operators, Air Chathams, says the sector needs just $ 10 million in direct government support to overcome it, which it says is a fraction of what has been allowed for Air New Zealand. And the agency representing all airlines operating here says that most regional national airlines are “hanging by the thread” and that direct financial support is needed.

• The small business loan scheme has been well received by the industry, but questions remain. The small business cash flow loan scheme will provide assistance of up to $ 100,000 to businesses that employ 50 or fewer full-time equivalent employees, but there are questions about whether it will be enough to keep some small businesses running.

Worldwide

• A New Zealand study has mapped the coronavirus epidemic curve for 25 countries and modeled how the spread of the virus has changed in response to various blocking measures. It shows six nations and six different curves, and how the nations that moved the fastest avoided disaster.

• More than a dozen US states. USA They allow restaurants, shops, or other companies to reopen in the biggest effort of a day to get their economies back on track, all with their own restrictions and quirks. People in Louisiana could eat in restaurants again, but had to sit outside at tables ten feet away with no waiter service. Maine residents could attend church services as long as they stayed in their cars. And a Nebraska mall reopened with Plexiglass barriers and hand sanitizing stations, but few shoppers.

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

Joking

• The Warriors finally received the green light to enter Australia in time for the resumption of the 2020 NRL season. The NRL confirmed today that the Warriors received approval from the Australian Border Force to travel to Tamworth, in the regional region of New South Wales, where they will see a 14-day quarantine period. About 50 Warriors players and staff will take a charter flight, but one final hurdle remains, with the club working to help families join the players, who could be based in Australia for up to six months.