The Transport Minister Phil Twyford says every attempt will be made to ensure people who need to travel domestically for isolation purposes can do so before the new Friday deadline; and Parliament will resume this afternoon to issue an epidemic notice allowing the Government to change almost any law with a stroke of a pen.
1.The Transport Minister Phil Twyford says every attempt will be made to ensure people who need to travel domestically for isolation purposes can do so before the new Friday deadline.
2.The Royal College of GP’s is calling for the rationing of data and phone calls to help frontline medical staff to deal with Covid-19. Phone and internet traffic has ramped up in the past two days as people spend more time at home.
3.The country’s largest broadband wholesaler recorded its busiest ever period for internet traffic last night. The Chorus network which has most of the country’s internet traffic was providing 2.75 terabytes of data every second.
4.The Government has provided more clarity about what constitutes essential services once the country is in lockdown. MBIE deputy chief executive Paul Stocks said the purpose of escalating New Zealand’s Covid-19 alert level to 4 was to stop the virus in its tracks and reduce contact between people.
5.Refining NZ is dropping its production rate as travel restrictions bite into the demand for fuel. The refineries processing facilities will be operating on a rotating basis and at a substantially lower rate for at least three months.
6.A supermarket chain says its been distrituting twice as many items as normal in the past week to meet demand. Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin says he understands why people are anxiously buying a lot more but it’s not necessary.
7.Parliament will resume this afternoon to issue an epidemic notice allowing the Government to change almost any law with a stroke of a pen. Before signing off on Parliament shutdown, a skeleton crew of MP’s will debate the notice and pass an emergency measures bill covering the likes of rent freezes and stopping evictions.
8.The local sharemarket has surged for a second straight day with investors around the world buoyed by stimulus measures from central banks and Governments.
9.The Salvation Army is trying to recover as quickly as possible from a run on its food banks over the past few days which have seriously depleted its stocks.
10.Iwi on the East Coast and in Northland have set up checkpoints to stop non-residents from entering into their regions as the country moves to COVID Alert Level 4.
11.The postponement of the Olympics and Paralympics will create financial headaches for the sporting world. The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese Government, say both games will be held in Tokyo, sometime before August 2021.
12.A New Zealander in lockdown in Barcelona, Jesse Stevens says social bonds have strengthened and there is a sense of unity during the enforced home isolation. Spain recorded another 500 deaths in the past 24 hours as the country continues its lockdown to stem the disease.
