Close to 30,000 more people have ended up on the jobseeker benefit in the four weeks since the lockdown was announced, new figures from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) show; and the first Government repatriation flight for New Zealanders in India has taken off from New Delhi in the last few hours.
1.The company Aerowork says it’s in shock at the news one of its pilots was killed this morning. A top dressing plane crashed shortly after takeoff on a farm on Ruakiwi Rd, east of Carterton.
2.Supermarkets are ending the 10 percent bonus pay provided to staff causing anger among workers who say they are feeling crushed by the decision. Countdown and Foodstuffs has been giving the bonus since the country moved into Covid-19 alert level 4, but First Union said it will not be handed out beyond the coming week.
3.Close to 30,000 more people have ended up on the jobseeker benefit in the four weeks since the lockdown was announced, new figures from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) show. In the week to 17 April, there were 174,630 people receiving jobseeker support.
4.The US President Donald Trump says he still believes in an unproven drug as a treatment for Covid-19. Throughout the past few weeks, Donald Trump has promoted hydroxychloroquine despite a lack of significant scientific evidence regarding its effectiveness.
5.Both New Zealand and Australia’s prime ministers see merit in opening up the borders between the two countries in the future but only when it is safe to do so. Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison have discussed the possibility but no plans have yet been confirmed.
6.A police officer who raped his colleague in Northland last year can now be named as Jamie Foster. Foster groped and later raped his female colleague in a Kerikeri motel they had been put up in during Waitangi commemorations last year.
7.The first Government repatriation flight for New Zealanders in India has taken off from New Delhi in the last few hours. About 300 people were expected on the flight which will travel direct to Auckland.
8.The Government says it’s carried out nearly 2,500 random and targeted audits of companies claiming Covid-19 wages subsidies. More than 1,000 complaints have been lodged about the scheme not being used as intended.
9.The Education Ministry has told schools and early childhood centres to report daily on the number of children attending next week. They are reopening on Wednesday for the children of parents who must return to work under alert level 3.
10.Nelson’s Mayor Rachel Reese says plans to move a large part of Air New Zealand’s engineering base from the city is a devastating blow for staff and for the region.
11.The Grey District Mayor Tania Gibson is welcoming moves to provide more people on the West Coast with Covid-9 tests. Mobile testing clinics are visiting the remote communities of Hust and Bruce Bay today.
12.University of Otago researchers have found large numbers of New Zealand has found military personnel suffer post-traumatic stress. More than 1800 currently serving and retired military personnel were surveyed for the study.
