Economic scenarios released by the Treasury back the Government’s decision to go ‘hard and early’ in the fight against Covid-19; and NZME is losing about 15 percent of its workforce and asking staff to take pay cuts, as its advertising income looks to have been halved.
1.Economic scenarios released by the Treasury back the Government’s decision to go ‘hard and early’ in the fight against Covid-19. If lockdown isn’t extended, the global economy picks up and the Government continues to pump tens of billions of dollars into the economy, unemployment can be kept below 10 percent.
2.The Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has defended New Zealand’s tougher Covid-19 lockdown in contrast with Australia’s. Australia’s restrictions vary state by state, but are not as strict as here: construction is continuing, hairdressers are open and restaurants can provide takeaways.
3.The parent company of the New Zealand Burger King restaurants have gone into receivership. The receivers called amentha saying the level 4 lockdown has significantly hit the businesses finances.
4.NZME is losing about 15 percent of its workforce and asking staff to take pay cuts, as its advertising income looks to have been halved. The media company, which owns the New Zealand Herald, regional papers, and radio stations including Newstalk ZB, said it was axing up to 200 jobs.
5.An expert on health and early childhood services are warning that centres could become a major source of Covid-19 infection. Mike Bedford says early childhood centres are overrepresented in disease outbreaks and especially viral outbreaks
6.The coronavirus may have caused more New Zealanders to come home than to leave the country for the first time on record. Government statistics suggest annual net migration of New Zealand citizens in the year to February was 800.
7.President Donald has reacted angrily to suggestions his administration did not act quickly enough to fight the coronavirus. At a White House briefing he played a video defending his response to the pandemic.
8.Term two of the school year is set to start tomorrow, looking vastly different to term one. Teachers will be delivering lessons to students online, while two new educational TV channels will begin broadcasting in English and Māori as part of a $88m package to support remote learning.
9.Fiji’s Government says the cost of Cyclone Harold has already run into the millions even before full damage assessments have been made. On Sunday the Government declared a State of Natural Disaster for areas affected by last week’s cyclone. Disaster Management Minister, Jone Usamate, said the declaration was for certain parts of the Eastern, Central and Western Divisions.
10.New Zealand’s eighth largest island is set to become stoat free. The six year $3 million project on D’Urville Island in the western Marlborough Sound was announced today.
