The Government is working on a way to get home the 79 New Zealanders in Vanuatu. Cyclone Harold, a powerful category 5 made landfall on Vanuatu island of Santo yesterday with destructive winds; and New Zealand is racing to find other ways to produce and source the chemicals and equipment critical to Covid-19 testing.
1.Health Minister David Clark has revealed that he took a trip to the beach during the alert level 4 lockdown and has offered to resign. Clark said he drove his family 20km from his house in Dunedin to Doctor’s Point Beach for a walk during the first weekend of the lockdown in breach of the rules.
2.UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care in hospital after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Downing Street has said. Johnson has asked Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to deputise for him, a spokesman added.
3.The Government is working on a way to get home the 79 New Zealanders in Vanuatu. Cyclone Harold, a powerful category 5 made landfall on Vanuatu island of Santo yesterday with destructive winds.
4.There’s been no communication from the Vanuatu islands hardest hit by the powerful Tropical Cyclone Harold. The Category 5 storm made landfall on the Vanuatu island of Santo yesterday with destructive winds as high as 235km/h. The cyclone passed directly over Santo and hundreds of people are sheltering in evacuation centres.
5.Foreign Ministers of Pacific Islands Forum countries are to meet by video conference today to discuss the regional response to Covid-19.
6.A member of the New York City Council has warned a ten fold rise in deaths due to the coronavirus, means it could be necessary to bury the dead in temporary plots in parks.
7.New Zealand is racing to find other ways to produce and source the chemicals and equipment critical to Covid-19 testing. Global demand has far surpassed the capabilities of manufacturers for the chemicals needed to process tests. Microbiologists advising the Ministry of Health said there was a shortage in the global and New Zealand markets and have come up with backup plans.
8.The Covid-19 lockdown comes during a crucial time for golf course maintenance and a turf specialist says if courses are neglected now, it will be months before the damage can be undone. New Zealand Golf has approached the Government seeking an exemption for golf course maintenance to be considered an essential service.
