The number of official complaints about the Government’s wage subsidy scheme have skyrocketed, with 800 being laid in the space of just nine days; and New Zealand insurance companies will save about $100 million on payouts for motor vehicles alone during the lockdown because of the dramatic drop in driving during the pandemic.
1.New Zealand insurance companies will save about $100 million on payouts for motor vehicles alone during the lockdown because of the dramatic drop in driving during the pandemic. The windfall for insurance companies is leading Consumer New Zealand to urge insurance companies to follow the lead of those in the US, which have cut car insurance premiums by between 15 and 25 percent.
2.The number of official complaints about the Government’s wage subsidy scheme have skyrocketed, with 800 being laid in the space of just nine days. Of those, the Labour Inspectorate says nine involve fraud, a number it expects to grow in the coming weeks.
3.Principals are warning the government’s plans for partially reopening schools at alert level 3 will be a shambles. They warn that teachers will struggle to teach classes in-person and online, social distancing will be nearly impossible to maintain, and parents will send children to school simply because they are sick of having them at home.
4.Last minute sometimes random testing is being done in a handful of areas as the Ministry of Health looks to fill gaps in its Covid-19 data. Cabinet is due to make a decision on Monday about whether to move the country out of lockdown and needs to know whether the virus is circulating Epidemiologists advising the Ministry of Health asked for more testing in Queenstown, parts of Waikato, Auckland and Canterbury.
5.The country’s fruit and vegetable growers say moving to level 3 on the Covid-19 scale will ease pressure on some in the sector, but many consumers still won’t be able to get their greens. From later next week businesses and industries not considered essential, but able to demonstrate they can operate safely, could be back up and running if the government announces on Monday a move to level 3.
6.Business owners are frantically trying to work out how they will operate under alert level 3 restrictions. Yesterday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that some firms could start working again once level 3 came into force but only if they were able to keep people safe. On Monday, Cabinet will decide whether New Zealand will come out of lockdown and move to level 3.
7.UK’s Acting Prime Minister Dominic Raab has ordered Britons to stay at home for at least another three weeks to prevent the spread of a coronavirus outbreak which has already claimed over 138,000 lives globally.
