With over 24 million confirmed cases and more than 820,000 people dead, Covid-19 is playing out differently in various parts of the world. To understand this a little better, Siouxsie Wiles and Toby Morris walk you through the Covid-19 ‘triangle’. Since this pandemic started, I’ve been getting lots of messages from people and hearing an … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 21, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ is in level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at jihee@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day in sum There are … Read more
The two week jail sentence handed out to the woman who breached isolation with her grieving children is an abomination, writes Leonie Hayden. In a week where New Zealanders are celebrating the prison sentence of a monster who murdered 51 people, we all need to think hard about what we’re celebrating. I choose to leave … Read more
New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdowns triggered intense panic buying of flour, toilet paper and canned foods. In response, one of our largest grocery companies decided to cut its product range, writes Rebecca Stevenson for BusinessDesk. Foodstuffs’ store owners have narrowed the range of products sold as a result of the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown. Foodstuffs North Island … Read more
Businesses and community organisations in South Auckland are already finding themselves stretched thin – and warn the worst is yet to come. Māngere businesswoman Toni Helleur employs up to nine people providing corporate massage services across Auckland. But since April, she’s only had one month of income, and following this latest resurgence, the future isn’t … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 28, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and the return of Covid-19. Auckland is in alert level three until 11.59pm on Sunday. The rest of NZ remains in level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 3.45pm: Police remind Aucklanders to stay … Read more
Dr Michelle Wise, an obstetrics and gynaecology specialist, answers some of the most frequently asked questions from pregnant women right now. Are pregnant women more vulnerable than non-pregnant women in getting Covid-19? The short answer is no. The research from around the world shows that pregnant women are not more likely than non-pregnant adults to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Christchurch mosque shooter sentenced to life without parole, hundreds of millions set aside for Covid-19 vaccine, and the diverging inequalities of the economic recovery. The Christchurch mosque shooter will never leave prison for the rest of his natural life. Yesterday afternoon, a sentence of life without … Read more
New Zealand’s response to the pandemic has won global plaudits – but there is still much room for improvement, write a trio of University of Otago public health experts. This week marks six months since New Zealand’s first Covid-19 case was identified on February 26. So far New Zealand has been largely in reactive mode, … Read more
Will I get fined? Can I use a scarf? And what about on the school bus? All your questions about face masks on public transport, answered here. When and where do I have to wear a mask exactly? From Monday, all New Zealanders will be required to wear a face mask on public transport for … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 27, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and the return of Covid-19. Auckland is in alert level three until 11.59pm on Sunday. The rest of NZ remains in level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day in sum The … Read more
Down the rabbit hole and onto Instagram Stories, some of New Zealand’s most popular influencers are now regularly using their platforms to peddle fake news and conspiracy theories that could endanger public health. Jihee Junn finds out what consequences, if any, there are for those actively spreading mistruths. When the government announced Auckland would be … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mixed messages on freshwater regulations, Christchurch gunman won’t address court, and an important story about what happens after a positive Covid-19 test. National leader Judith Collins has told a Facebook live chat that the government’s freshwater regulations will be “gone by lunchtime” if National wins. As Stuff’s Henry … Read more
As Auckland faced the resurgence of coronavirus, misinformation proliferated, and a lot of people encountered it, according to the latest Stickybeak poll for The Spinoff. Plus: What is Facebook’s impact on NZ society? With a third of New Zealand under alert level three lockdown, recent weeks have seen false claims around the source of the … Read more
If you’re worried about getting a Covid-19 test because of fears of going into quarantine, don’t be. Here’s what you need to know, to make one scary thing a little less scary. The government’s decision to move community cases of Covid-19 into quarantine facilities has raised fears among some New Zealanders that might stop them … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 26, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ is in level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.15pm: The day in sum … Read more
Linda Burgess puts on her mask, goes to the mall, and finds herself slipping into a dystopian level two nightmare… We’re in hell. Sartre wrote hell is other people, and he wrote that when malls were just a twinkle in Mr Westfield’s eye. Given that I’ll be living in track pants for the oxymoronic foreseeable … Read more
Cold, damp and mouldy homes are devastating to human heath. But Covid-19 has illuminated the true danger of our national problem. Is there anything more quintessentially Kiwi than a cold, damp home? The black mould on the windowsills, the musty odour in the wardrobe, the sore throat in the morning: they’ve all become the common … Read more
Two weeks into Auckland’s second lockdown, Sam Brooks reflects on the strange distortion of time in alert level three. I remember exactly where I was when Lockdown: The Sequel was announced. Actually, no. I remember exactly where I was when it was announced that Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield were going to be making a … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes rippling through architecture of local government, ‘yellow flag’ case causes concern about Auckland outbreak, and health select committee to reconvene. To lead us off today, a roundup of a few stories taking place at local government level. It keeps going while the rest of the … Read more
Level one might not be back for some time amid warnings the current Auckland outbreak will linger. But the election campaign must go on – one way or another, writes political editor Justin Giovannetti. There’s an election campaign going on out there if you know where to look for it. With the move to extend … Read more
Compliance has dropped compared with the last time New Zealand was in a lockdown, a new Stickybeak poll for The Spinoff shows. Plus: how many people have taken a financial hit? Around the world, regions or nations that have exited then returned to lockdown have faced what has been called “lockdown fatigue”. It was certainly … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 25, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ is in level two. More details here. Official information here. Get me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day in sum There … Read more
A man in his 30s turned up at hospital on Friday with symptoms. He’s now in ICU. Nobody knows how he contracted the virus. Amid the daily rush of numbers as Auckland’s tally of active Covid-19 tops 110, one new infection has given Ashley Bloomfield particular pause for concern. It’s another indication that the growing … Read more
The president of the Howick-Pakuranga branch of Grey Power has sent out a newsletter packed full of conspiracy theories about Covid-19, accusing the government of ‘brainwashing’ and trying to create a ‘potential medical/police state’. Alex Braae reports. In the “President’s Page” column of the latest newsletter from the Howick-Pakuranga branch of Grey Power, president Peter … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Alert levels extended until next Monday with new rules put in, managed isolation worker still hasn’t got test results, and Peters has new connection with Bad Boy of Brexit. The current alert levels will remain for another week at least, and even after that, things … Read more
Different countries are pursuing different strategies for taking on Covid-19. Despite the re-emergence of the virus, and the sacrifices our response demands, it remains absolutely the best approach for us, writes Siouxsie Wiles. Here in Aotearoa, we’re playing Covid-19 in “elimination” mode. Some countries are trying “suppression” mode, while others are running with what seems … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 24, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ is in level two. More details here. Official information here. Get me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.30pm: The day in sum … Read more
We must not squander this wake-up call. We must take action now to avert a climate catastrophe, write Dr Mike Joy and Dr Catherine Knight of the Better Futures Forum. Many New Zealanders will likely be feeling very uneasy about the resurgence of the coronavirus in our community. Just when we thought we were out … Read more