The country’s top health official has conceded that a key measure in determining whether New Zealand should come out of lockdown is a week shy of being “gold standard”; and dairy farmers are gearing up for the busiest part of their year and will need more “good, hard-working” Kiwis than usual to get through it.
* The New Zealand Herald
In the New Zealand Herald, Kiwis will find out at 4pm today whether the country will come out of lockdown and move to alert level 3 this week. But the Prime Minister has warned that it’s not time to storm the beaches yet level 3 will not be a return to pre-Covid life, and the ongoing battle is a long-term one.
In other news, the country’s top health official has conceded that a key measure in determining whether New Zealand should come out of lockdown is a week shy of being “gold standard”. Director General of Health Ashley Bloomfield revealed that work was continuing “at pace” to improve contact-tracing, even though Cabinet needs robust information for its decision today about whether to ease or extend the four-week nationwide lockdown.
In business news, social media giants Facebook and Google will be forced to pay Australian media companies for sharing their content or face sanctions under a landmark decision by the Morrison government. The move comes as the media industry reels from tumbling advertising revenue, already in decline before the Covid 19 coronavirus outbreak collapsed the market.
* The Dominion Post
In the Dominion Post, today, some time after 10.30am, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet will make the decision of their careers. At 4pm, we will know the answer to their long deliberation and whether or not the country will loosen its rigid level-four lockdown rules and move to the slightly less punitive level-three alert.
In other news, from Tuesday to Saturday, after an hour of yoga with his flatmates, Matthew Di Leva puts on his gloves and gets ready to head to work. Di Leva, who has autism, has been working at the Newtown New World in Wellington for about three years first for work experience and since 2019, as a part-time employee. The 24-year-old is a trolley assistant and stocks shelves.
In business news, dairy farmers are gearing up for the busiest part of their year and will need more “good, hard-working” Kiwis than usual to get through it. June 1 marks the start of the dairy season but the hardest work comes with calving, which begins in July in the North Island and August in the South Island.
* The Press
In The Press, health officials are reviewing whether a man who died at home while suffering from coronavirus should have received hospital treatment. Emergency services were called to a property in the Invercargill suburb of Kingswell about 8.45pm on Tuesday. Alister Peter Brookland, who had been diagnosed with Covid19 and was in isolation, had died.
In other news, after a massive drop in traffic numbers on the first day of the lockdown, it appears Christchurch drivers felt compelled to get back behind the wheel. It comes as police warn against breaking road rules in the city, pointing to the example of one driver caught allegedly doing 127kmh in a 50kmh area near Hagley Park.
In business news, Steve Lee started his travel broker business in 2007. Today, New Zealand Travel Brokers works with 175 contracting brokers across the country. But tomorrow? Who knows. Along with the rest of the travel and tourism industry, the Palmerston North company is experiencing “negative sales” as it refunds clients forced to cancel trips amid the global coronavirus pandemic.
