The second Kiwi to be confirmed as having coronavirus says her husband has also tested positive, bringing the numbers of cases in this country to four; and the $2.4 billion Government investment in new roads and rail in South Auckland will pave the way for New Zealand’s first “new town” a city that will ultimately be bigger than Napier at Drury.
* The New Zealand Herald
In the New Zealand Herald, the second Kiwi to be confirmed as having coronavirus says her husband has also tested positive, bringing the numbers of cases in this country to four. The woman, who had visited northern Italy, has been in isolation at her Auckland home with her husband and two high-school aged children.
In other news, a female police officer has described being woken up by pain as a colleague allegedly sexually violated her during their deployment to last year’s ceremonies at Waitangi. The accused policeman, who has name suppression, was arrested last March after allegations emerged from an incident on the night of February 4 and early hours of the next day at a Kerikeri motel.
In business news, the $2.4 billion Government investment in new roads and rail in South Auckland will pave the way for New Zealand’s first “new town” a city that will ultimately be bigger than Napier at Drury. Located just off the motorway some 34km south of the Auckland CBD, Drury is suddenly the centre of attention and growth. The once-sleepy area will soon get two new railway stations, an electrified line through to Pukekohe, and the Mill Rd interchange to the motorway.
* The Dominion Post
In the Dominion Post, a volunteer group offering to restore hundreds of neglected service graves has been halted by city council red tape. The New Zealand Remembrance Army (NZRA), founded in January last year to refurbish forgotten war graves, is ready and willing to spruce up about 800 unkempt headstones at Wellington’s Karori Cemetery.
In other news, the third confirmed case of coronavirus in New Zealand appears to be a fourth case but officials won’t say it. Yesterday, Ministry of Health director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield explained the third confirmed case was a New Zealand resident who had contracted Covid-19 after family members returned home to Auckland from a trip to Iran.
In business news, Wellington’s council has found some common ground – on correcting the naming of a street. Waripori St in Berhampore will now become known as Te Wharepouri St, after a Māori chief of the 1800s, after Wellington City councillors voted unanimously for the change. Technically, Te Wharepouri has always had a Wellington street named after him.
* The Press
In The Press, the father of a teen who is a member of a shadowy white nationalist group says he did not bring his son up to have racist views. Sam Richard Scott Brittenden, 19, was arrested on Wednesday when police executed a search warrant at a Christchurch address. He appeared in the Christchurch District Court before Judge Tony Couch on Thursday on a charge of failing to assist with a search warrant.
In other news, whisky aficionados from New Zealand and around the world are bound for Christchurch’s DramFest and organisers say this weekend’s event marks something of a “homecoming”. The biennial event was first held in the Limes Room at the Christchurch Town Hall in 2007, with 25 stalls and 500 people attending.
In business news, a Christchurch craft beer company is getting ready to ship its second container of beer to China despite ongoing concerns over the coronavirus. Alisdair Cassels, director of Cassels Brewery Company, said the company saw a future in the Chinese craft beer market even amid the current climate of uncertainty.
