In the first part of our new series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, a reader asks about ways to get their business through the economic downturn and take advantage of new opportunities. Kiwibank’s Nigel Gaudin responds. Dear Nigel, I run a small retail business with five staff and … Read more
The latest in our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall. David Garcia worked with Chris to create today’s charts. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members, with support from the Science Media Centre. These posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. … Read more
In the third in our new video series 60 Seconds with Siouxsie, Dr Wiles explains why we’ve heard so little about Covids 1-18. A short and sweet video made possible by the support of Spinoff members, about the origins of the name “Covid-19”. Contrary to what you might have heard from Trump megaphone Kellyanne Conway, … Read more
Under alert level three, school doors are open to students up to Year 10 who need to attend. Initial signs are that only a trickle are heading through the gates. Five weeks after they closed their doors as New Zealand went into the strict lockdown of alert level four, schools across the country are reopening … Read more
As the past few weeks have starkly revealed, we can’t always conflate the occupants of a single residence into one neat group. Anthropologists Susanna Trnka and Sharyn Graham Davies explain. On March 23, New Zealanders were presented with a stark and unprecedented demand to get into our “bubbles” within 48 hours and stay there for … Read more
A study in Santa Clara, California, suggested 50 times as many as the confirmed number of cases. Reports from New York headlined 2.7 million people in the state having had coronavirus. Siouxsie Wiles on what we need to know to trust the numbers. A few days ago it was reported that “2.7 million New Yorkers have … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spotlight on the Pacific and Covid-19, health minister in yet another spot of bother, and schools reopening to very limited numbers. For a lead today, I thought it would be useful to check in on our nation’s neighbours in the Pacific, and how they are … Read more
It’s a crucial factor in keeping the spread of the virus under control, but there’s a whole lot more the government needs to consider than what is technically possible, writes Andrew Chen. Now we’ve exited level four, how do we keep the Covid-19 cases down? A critical part of the puzzle is contact tracing. In … Read more
Over the past month, we became deeply aware that we were all only as safe as our most marginalised and at-risk. Nobody was immune. We need to channel that knowledge to the core of how we do politics, writes Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick. Yesterday, Aotearoa New Zealand cautiously toned down the world-leading, robust safeguards designed … Read more
In the first of a series of now-virtual events, Danyl is joined by a journalist and a former political staffer to discuss politics and the media. Two months ago today, Spinoff Members and Verb Wellington cheerfully unveiled a new collaboration: a series of live events at the tremendous Meow bar. And, well, everyone knows what … Read more
The latest in our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall. David Garcia worked with Chris to create today’s charts. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members, with support from the Science Media Centre. These posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. … Read more
Non-essential business has taken a hit over the past month, but innovative New Zealand companies are finding the silver lining. Restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 lockdown have caused some businesses to consider closing up shop for good. While some have taken this route, others have used the restrictions forced upon them to pivot into areas … Read more
As the countless graphs of Covid-19 cases have shown us, what comes up must invariably come down. Justin Connolly asks if we need to think that way about the economy. There have been many funny posts circulating on social media about life in Covid-19 lockdown. One in particular caught my eye because it was funny, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What it means now that we’re at level three, contact tracing app on the way, and Vic students in halls protest resumption of fees. Well, we made it. The first – and hopefully only – stint of level four restrictions has come to an end, and … Read more
After five weeks in the strict Covid-19 lockdown of alert level four, New Zealand today begins a fortnight – at least – in a less stringent version, alert level three. In a message to New Zealanders, Siouxsie Wiles warns this may be the trickiest phase yet. With illustrations and animations by Toby Morris. The Spinoff’s … Read more
The seriousness of the restrictions we’re living under deserves a much sounder legislative footing, write law professors Andrew Geddis and Claudia Geiringer. They should have a clear, certain basis in law and be imposed through a transparent and accountable process. Let’s start with the good stuff. New Zealand’s “go hard, go early” lockdown approach looks … 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 three – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support … Read more
The lockdown shackles loosen as we move from alert level four. What changes under alert level three? Jacinda Ardern has called it a “recovery room”, and “a progression, not a rush to normality”. The goal of shifting down a notch through the alert level system is to keep enough of a thumb over the hose … Read more
Dilworth School was founded on the principle of providing quality education for students from families in hardship. Now, as Aotearoa prepares to navigate a post-Covid-19 world, they’re stepping up. Nestled among Auckland’s leafy suburbs, Dilworth School’s normally bustling grounds have been eerily quiet in the past month. The boarding school for boys, which has two … Read more
The latest in our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall. David Garcia worked with Chris to create today’s charts. This work is entirely funded by the generosity of The Spinoff Members, with support from the Science Media Centre. These posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. … Read more
Review copies of Tina Shaw’s pandemic novel Ephemera landed in letterboxes just as the country went into lockdown. Here, she reflects on this strange new reality. These new times have the uncanny feeling of fiction – of science fiction, or post-apocalyptic fiction. In other words, the unreal has become real. I keep thinking of Station … Read more
As casual dealers retreat but both demand and prices surge, one surprising consequence of the lockdown could be the hastened professionalisation of the underground cannabis industry. When New Zealand moved to alert level four, most people had no choice about whether to comply with the lockdown. But for New Zealand’s cannabis dealers, who were watching … Read more
Law professor Dr Claire Charters (Te Arawa) lays out Aotearoa’s dual legal systems and the government’s obligations to both in these uncertain times. The Covid-19 era is like a fast-moving picture which perpetually develops and re-develops. The picture adjusts with ever-changing information on the relevant health-science, the impact on the economy, the need for restrictions … Read more
Separated from her nine year old daughter in Hungary, Daisy Coles is finding solace in video calling – and Disney gifs. Two months after I last saw her, I’m still finding my daughter’s drawings around the house. Precise line drawings of squirrels, lions, foxes in her signature style: thoughtfully considered, executed with an exquisitely sharp … Read more
The current crisis has rendered visible challenges that have been simmering in the background long before the country went into lockdown, writes Chris Farrelly of the Auckland City Mission. Covid-19 presents new and unfamiliar territory for many of us in our day-to-day realities. Be it managing childcare in the home office, or adjusting to time … Read more
Just like the rest of us, it turns out our elected representatives have a lot of weird stuff in their homes and offices. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning for the past four weeks, members of the parliamentary Epidemic Response Committee and invited guests have met online for a series of Zoom meetings. Like many … Read more
A survey by Stickybeak for The Spinoff shows a strong majority in support of the timing of the shift to alert level three. Stickybeak’s David Brain breaks down the data from our third poll. See previous polls here and here. At midnight, New Zealand moves out of the strictest lockdown settings and into alert level … 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 … Read more
When we emerge from our Covid-19 lockdown will we still listen to the scientists, the statistics and the stories of the past? Will we listen to the lines? An essay by Paul Ward. Nearly 15 years ago, as part of research for a sci-fi film script I got in touch with epidemiologist Dr Michael Baker. … Read more