Auckland post-punk four piece Swallow the Rat embarked on a US tour just as Covid-19 started to really spread. Guitarist Brian Purington, originally from Austin, Texas, tells the story of a tour interrupted – and how he became one of New Zealand’s first 500 cases of Covid-19. Brian Purington and his partner Charlotte Hill spoke … Read more
The third 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 … 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. 6.30pm: … Read more
A week into level four lockdown, people are probably starting to feel a little cooped up. To help with this, some subscription services and brands have begun to make their products temporarily free. Here are just a few things currently on offer. For those with the privilege of free time during this isolation period, there’s … Read more
In these testing times, we’re all spending a fair amount of time on our phones and computers. Here are some simple ways to make that time safer for yourself. As if we weren’t all indoors on our phones enough already, Covid-19 is ensuring that our screen time is going to be through the roof. That’s … Read more
The outside is telling us, ‘I could do that again whenever I wanted. You think about that.’ Read more Lockdown letters here. ‘When I’m being a badger I live in a hole and eat earthworms,” the nature writer Charles Foster wrote. “When I’m being an otter I try to catch fish with my teeth.” When … Read more
Our Covid-19 gifs are now available in te reo Māori. Spread the word (while staying at home). The suite of excellent illustrations and gifs created by microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles and illustrator Toby Morris have had an undeniable impact during the Covid-19 crisis. They offer clear communication of sometimes complex concepts, and their popularity has seen … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government approach to testing faces serious scrutiny, second Queenstown nurse tests positive, and PM rejects curfew call. The government’s approach to fighting the Covid-19 outbreak has faced a robust bout of scrutiny, both from MPs and experts. It only took one sitting day for the new … Read more
A quick reminder why we need to hold firm, and resist any temptation to bend the rules. For almost a week now, every one of us who isn’t an essential worker has been confined to their bubble. We are allowed to go shopping for groceries, to visit the doctor, and to get a bit of … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Whether to connect with friends and colleagues, catch up on news, or stave off the boredom with bingeable TV, we’ve all been on our devices a lot more than normal. Vodafone has released a summary of its traffic stats for the past six days, which compares phone calls, broadband, and mobile data use against the … 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, Ōtaki author Renée. I have a wild tomato flopping all over the path down the back of the veg garden. I picked a tomato from it this … Read more