Covid 19 coronavirus: What you need to know about Sunday’s big developments

Despite another day of low coronavirus case numbers in New Zealand, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has sent a stern warning as lockdown breaches increase at alert level 3. Get all the important news and read the full stories in the links below.

Key developments in NZ

• There are just two new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, with both linked to the St Margaret’s Hospital & Rest Home cluster in Auckland. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said today’s numbers were “encouraging” – but warned there was no longer any room for ignorance of alert level 3 rules. “It’s been concerning to see some behaviors continue into the weekend and ultimately, this could slow a move to level 2,” Bloomfield said, after police have been forced to take action against 514 people for lockdown breaches in level 3.

• After mounting public pressure Flight Center has backed down on charging travelers for trips canceled due to Covid-19, removing its fees altogether. The tourism booking company came under fire for charging customers to cancel bookings they were unable to use due to Covid-19 travel restrictions. It is estimated the company will lose $ 7 million as they refund about 15,000 bookings.

• Keeping love’s passion alive can take hard work and healthy doses of romance – even more so when cooped up together under Covid-19 lockdown. The Herald interviewed five Kiwi couples at the beginning of lockdown, and checked back in with them to see how they have fared.

Business update

• Fiercely private doomsday survivalists have reportedly fled to New Zealand to wait out the Covid-19 pandemic safely beneath the earth’s surface – with one company having claimed to have built 10 “billionaire bunkers” in Aotearoa in the past few years. But do they actually exist, and if so, where?

• A new fast-track consenting process will approve “shovel-ready” infrastructure projects in as few as 25 days, the Government says. Cabinet approved changes to the Resource Management Act last week and legislation is expected to be passed in June. The changes will allow Environment Minister David Parker to determine which projects can be fast-tracked, overseen by an expert panel.

Around the world

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has revealed how doctors began making preparations to announce his death as he battled coronavirus. Johnson said he was given “liters and liters of oxygen” by medics to keep him alive while in intensive care at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, as the worst-case scenario was planned for.

• The coronavirus pandemic has already caused immeasurable disruption around the world, shutting down national economies and forcing millions of people to change the way they live their lives. Come November, it could disrupt the most important political event of the year – the US presidential election.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government’s official Covid-19 advisory website

In sport

• The Warriors have set off for Australia to begin their 14-day quarantine ahead of the planned resumption of the NRL season. Chris Rattue looks at their extraordinary efforts to stay afloat, and the situation that awaits them in quarantine, while hope remains that NRL games could be hosted in New Zealand later this year.