Striking scenes from the first week of alert level four restrictions in our biggest city. As New Zealand adjusted to alert level four Covid-19 restrictions, the usually bustling streets of Tāmaki Makaurau were all but deserted. We captured this surreal, strangely beautiful footage during the first week of lockdown, visiting familiar Auckland locations including the … Read more
The second in our new series of charts, graphics and data-visualisations by Chris McDowall, covering the Covid-19 epidemic within New Zealand. We’ll publish the latest set each day on The Spinoff. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members Information about confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is … Read more
The Real Pod assembles one more time to dissect the final week of The Bachelorette NZ, with special thanks to Nando’s. We’ve reached the end of our love journey in more ways than one, as this season of The Bachelorette NZ coincides with end of The Real Pod in its current form. Lesina chose nobody, … Read more
It’s been a tough week in both 2020 and 1771, but things just got a whole lot worse for Jamie and Claire. Contains very big, very sad spoilers for season five, episode seven of Outlander. We are locked in a bubble of our own distress, we are self-isolating in a heavy cloud of emotion, we … Read more
Madeleine Chapman, who wrote the just-published biography Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, says watching our prime minister handle the Covid-19 response is like watching an NBA star burst out from the pack. (Yesterday we published an extract). Rajon Rondo was the fourth-best player on the Boston Celtics roster in 2012. By nature of … Read more
Emily Writes talks to teenagers about how the level four restrictions are affecting them, and asks how they can be better supported. There are unfortunately so many terrible stereotypes about teenagers, but Gen Z might just be our most resilient generation yet. Struggling through feelings of helplessness around climate change, they started a movement to make … Read more
Our Place is the latest in a plethora of new suburban eateries opening up across Auckland city. When Sonya Wilson visited this week, she discovered a relaxed newcomer that embraces its homely, neighbourhood vibe. Compared to many of Auckland’s fine-dining establishments, Our Place is rather unassuming upon approach. Diners enter via a front porch in … Read more
In the worst-case scenario modelled, almost 150,000 New Zealanders would be hospitalised with Covid-19 and more than 35,000 would lose their lives. The Ministry of Health has released its mathematical models that project the severity of the Covid-19 outbreak based on different measures imposed on the populous. The modelling delivers “a clear warning of the … Read more
In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers chronicle Covid-19 alert level four. Today, Dunedin-based author Fiona Farrell. Tonight she’ll go into work. Eleven till 8am in General Medical. My younger daughter will strap on her helmet, kiss the kids who will be in bed but probably still awake, say goodbye … Read more
There’s never been a better time to connect our tamariki with nature than now. Paul Ward, co-founder of the gamified learning platform Wild Eyes, explains how. Thanks to Covid-19, cabin fever is on the curriculum for primary and intermediate school kids and their parents. Keeping Kiwi kids active, curious (and awake!) during lockdown – let … Read more
National carrier Air New Zealand has been shattered by Covid-19, and it will likely be years before it recovers. Alex Braae reports on a sobering letter from the CEO. What’s the latest? Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran has been in the job for a matter of months, but already he is being forced to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Queenstown nurse tests positive for Covid-19, more detail emerges on case clusters, and NZers in Australia score moderate victory. A Queenstown nurse has tested positive for Covid-19, bringing to light wider fears of health workers. The Otago Daily Times reports the nurse worked at the Lakes District Hospital, where … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. 6.15pm: … Read more
Introducing a brand new series of charts, graphics and data-visualisations by Chris McDowall, covering the Covid-19 epidemic within New Zealand. This is the first edition – we’ll publish the latest set each day on The Spinoff. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members Information about confirmed and probable cases of … Read more
Nurses are the first people you’ll meet if you think you have Covid-19. Here, one of our frontline workers describes the rapid changes both healthcare workers and the public are facing. As told to Josie Adams. I was working at an urgent care clinic in East Auckland when the first reports of Covid-19 came out … Read more
Some countries are now using a serology test, which uses blood or serum samples to look for antibodies we produce in response to the virus. Siouxsie Wiles explains its strengths and weaknesses. Read Toby Morris’s new Side Eye comic, created with Siouxsie Wiles, here. And more of Siouxsie’s writing here. The Spinoff’s Covid-19 coverage is made possible … Read more
Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments. Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the black sands of Piha … Read more
An extract from Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, the brand new biography of the prime minister by Madeleine Chapman, formerly of this parish. Out today, Madeleine’s biography of the prime minister is magnificent. We cracked up. We had a wee cry. We’ve never read a political biography like it. Tomorrow we’ll have an essay … Read more
When officials – including police themselves – don’t seem clear on the rules around movement, it makes it harder for everyone to do the right thing, writes Andrew Geddis. Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to eradicate the virus that causes Covid-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to … Read more
The Covid-19 crisis in media has claimed New Zealand’s last surviving radio station solely dedicated to sport. Amid a wider crisis in media funding right now, the first outlet has been forced to close the doors – and it isn’t likely to return. Staff at Radio Sport have been told that the station has been … Read more
Tips on how television can help educate your kids, for parents who have to keep working. It feels as if a great many parents are simply flourishing during this lockdown with fairy gardens, bird song and mason jars, daily bongo drum dancing and essays written by three-year-old prodigies about how satisfying it is to be … Read more
Robyn Hunt writes on the challenges facing disabled people and what needs to be done to support them in lockdown and beyond. Disabled people at higher risk need more help. Many of the almost one quarter of New Zealanders who are disabled are doing it hard as the country goes into lockdown. If the levels … Read more
The first days of national lockdown have truly brought out the best in our social media stars. Alex Casey counts down the classics. Yesterday I got served with the Instagram notification that normally only pops up around Christmas-time. “You’re all caught up!” it chirped, “you’ve seen every post from the last three days!” The message … Read more
In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers tell us what they’ve been up to in the days of Covid-19 alert level four. Today, writer and doctor Glenn Colquhoun goes full epistolary, with a letter to Hone Tūwhare – and his Travelling Band of Constant Companions. Kia ora Hone, Well brother, … Read more
As New Zealand looks toward an uncertain future in all areas of life, Auckland school principal Claire Amos sees an opportunity to change high school education for the better. The last week has been an interesting one for school leaders. Monday arrived, it was all on – schools were closing the next day, schools across … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Conditions for leaving lockdown explored, nation’s first death from Covid-19 reported, and Australian govt continues to discriminate against NZers. When will the Covid-19 lockdown across New Zealand end? Short answer – when it’s actually safe to do so. Officially, the current state of level four restrictions … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. On … Read more
Calls are growing for extra payment for those who continue to head out to work every day, including many on very low wages. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. Two petitions have been circulating over the weekend calling for essential … Read more
Covid-19 will transform society, just as the plague and smallpox transformed nations centuries ago. This time, however, we have something they didn’t, writes historian Ayelet Zoran-Rosen. Throughout history, epidemics and pandemics have been a threat to people and states. They strike societies with little or no notice, upend their social and economic patterns, seep through … Read more