The parents of a New Zealand nurse working in the NHS who cared for Boris Johnson while he was in hospital with coronavirus have said they are ‘exceptionally proud’ of their daughter. Jenny McGee’s parents, Mike and Caroline, said: ‘She has told us it doesn't matter what patient she's looking after, this is what she does and I just find it incredible.’
New Zealand’s drive against Covid-19 is showing promise and it is not too late for other countries to follow
Epidemiologists love to evoke the memory of John Snow, who famously advocated removing the handle from the Broad Street pump in London, an action that helped to end a severe outbreak of cholera. In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic we need to take the same kind of decisive action, yet western countries have appeared remarkably slow to do so, despite the advantages of immense scientific knowledge and modern tools of pandemic control.
New Zealand now appears to be the only “western” nation following an articulated elimination strategy with the goal of completely ending transmission of Covid-19 within its borders. The strategy appears to be working, with new case numbers falling. Most cases are now returning travellers, who are safely quarantined at the borders, and the few remaining case clusters in the community are being traced and further spread stamped out. But it is far too soon to claim victory, and the country is remaining under an intense lockdown to support the elimination effort.
Continue reading...Southern hemisphere neighbours have developed different strategies but both are working – for now
Its more than 35,000km (21,750 miles) of coastline was always going to be Australia’s strongest advantage in keeping coronavirus at bay, but even so, the speed with which it was used was breathtaking.
Without warning on Thursday 19 March, the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, announced: “Australia is closing its borders to all-non citizens”. The ban was effective from 9pm the next day.
Continue reading...Just 29 new cases recorded as deputy prime minister calls on Ardern to move election from September to November
Jacinda Ardern has refused to postpone New Zealand’s September elections over the coronavirus pandemic, despite calls for a delay from her deputy and the deputy opposition leader.
On Thursday New Zealand recorded a significant drop in corona cases for the fourth day in a row, with just 29 new infections, 21 fewer than the previous day.
Continue reading...Guinness World Records changes rules to use road’s centre rather than sides for measurements
Last summer the townsfolk of Harlech, in north-west Wales, were celebrating the accolade of having the steepest street in the world.
A mere eight months on, they are in the doldrums after being informed by Guinness World Records that a New Zealand rival for the title has usurped them.
Continue reading...Joseph Auga Matamata lured villagers to his adoptive country promising work and study, reaping ‘bags of cash’ from their unpaid forced labour
When Loto* saw the police arrive at the rural property in New Zealand where he had been held captive for nearly two years, the man who had imprisoned him there told him to run. Instead, Loto quietly waited to be discovered by police.
Loto had spent 17 months being held as a slave on a property in Hastings on New Zealand’s North Island. He was never paid for his work and was subject to cruel beatings from Joseph Auga Matamata, a 65-year-old Samoan chief, or matai.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern has got the support of the nation, but after the lockdown, when the job losses mount, the government will need all the courage it can muster
Jacinda Ardern acted decisively in an attempt to get ahead of the Covid-19 curve, putting New Zealand into strict lockdown far earlier than other western leaders. It was a bold decision with massive economic implications. The public are listening to their prime minister and are united behind her. But the road ahead is littered with pitfalls as the nation comes to terms with the economic and social cost, and nervously waits to see whether these measures will deliver the knock-out blow to the virus in New Zealand.
So far, there has been extraordinary buy-in to the lockdown, with opinion surveys showing extremely high levels of support. Ardern’s directive to “be kind” to one another during the crisis, has become ubiquitous. There is an overwhelming consensus that, while the individual and societal costs are huge, the right call has been made.
Continue reading...Many left for home without even the chance to say goodbye, knowing that their big overseas experience may be lost forever
Swapping in “aubergine” for “eggplant” and “pepper” for “capsicum” – when you remember. Watching two clocks, one 13 hours fast. Smugly renouncing Boris Johnson as “not MY prime minister”.
To some extent, the experience of being a New Zealander in London has always been one of being split between two places. Now the coronavirus crisis has forced us to pick one.
Continue reading...This blog is closed. Please follow live coverage on our new blog here
I’m handing over to the team in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me. Here are the developments in the global coronavirus outbreak this evening:
After many delays, and then a series of tweets earlier today, US President Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to built ventilators for hospitals, he announced at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing.
The Defense Production Act gives the president powers to direct domestic industrial production to provide essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis. It allows the president to require businesses and corporations to prioritize and accept contracts for required materials and services.
Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump signs $2.2tn stimulus bill after invoking Defense Production Act
Continue reading...In Wellington it felt downright bizarre as people took exaggerated arcs on the footpath to avoid each other, while near-empty buses sped past
By the time they locked down Italy, it seemed like it was already too late. Hundreds of people there had died of Covid-19 , with thousands infected. Over the next two weeks, the death toll soared. In New Zealand, we have oddly been in the opposite position: no one has died from the virus. Seven people are in hospital but they’re not in intensive care or on ventilators. There are more than 280 people confirmed to have the disease.
Yet this country has begun at least four weeks of some of the strictest restrictions anywhere in the world to fight Covid-19, clamping down on most movement, association and – to the chagrin of some – shopping, in the hope that a tragedy like the one unfolding in Italy and elsewhere can be avoided.
Continue reading...Sudden change of plea by Australian attacker accused of killing dozens of worshippers comes as a shock to victims’ families
The Australian man charged with murdering 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has suddenly changed his plea to admit all charges at a hastily arranged court appearance.
On 15 March last year, a man dressed in military fatigues and armed with several automatic weapons shot dead 51 worshippers at Al Noor and Linwood mosques in inner-city Christchurch. Forty-nine people were also injured in the attacks, which were livestreamed on the internet.
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Edouard Philippe, the French prime minister, has said that country’s lockdown could last several more weeks, with new restrictions – including limits on daily exercise outside the home – now in place:
Any morning constitutional/jogging now has to be within 1km of home, 1 hour max, alone, and only once per day. https://t.co/3CvQzDtZpb
The International Olympic Committee is facing almost irresistible pressure to postpone the Tokyo Olympics this week rather than wait until its mid-April deadline – with a growing number of athletes, governments and national federations saying it is unfair to keep them in limbo during the coronavirus pandemic.
Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today that the Games would be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”
Related: Athletes across globe call for Olympic postponement as countries pull out
Continue reading...Authorities fear that passengers from Ruby Princess might be unaware Covid-19 cases were onboard and be ‘wandering around’ city
About 2,700 passengers who disembarked a cruise ship in Sydney have been told to self-isolate after three people who were onboard tested positive for Covid-19.
Confirming the news on Friday, the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, said the doctor onboard had conducted 13 tests on the Ruby Princess, which had completed a relatively short cruise around the Pacific to New Zealand.
Continue reading...Volunteer army led by a local taxi driver scours the streets in the middle of the night to save endangered birds
A taxi driver in New Zealand has swapped drunken revellers for wayward seabirds in an attempt to halt the decline of one of the nation’s endangered species.
Local cabbie Toni Painting leads a volunteer army that scours the streets of the South Island town of Kaikoura in the middle of the night in search of Hutton’s shearwater chicks that crash-land onto the road – mistaking the shiny bitumen for the sea.
Continue reading...Seeking an abortion was a crime until now, but new legislation has removed the stigma and given women a choice
New Zealand’s current abortion laws are more than 40 years old and were enacted when there were more MPs in Parliament named Bill than MPs who were female. This week we brought the laws into the 21st century.
Up to now, women seeking an abortion in New Zealand were committing a crime under our main criminal statute but had a defence if they followed the requirements of the abortion legislation. These requirements included the woman being referred by their doctor to two specialists who each had to certify she faces a serious danger to her life or physical or mental health. Other conditions also applied, such as whether the pregnancy was a result of incest or the woman lacked capacity to consent. For abortions after 20 weeks, conditions were more stringent.
Continue reading...Everything that was once an urgent priority has evaporated. What matters right now is people’s health, and their family’s futures
It’s day three of my self-isolation. I returned to Aotearoa New Zealand on Monday night from a long-planned family wedding in Australia, itself book-ended by apocalyptic circumstance. Fires and floods rolled out the red carpet, while rapid global escalation of Covid-19 brought it to a finale.
I had booked flights back directly into Wellington, our capital city, because I’d intended to return immediately to work on Tuesday morning with the sitting of Parliament. Those intentions had been wiped clear on the weekend, with calls between caucus members and staffers confirming all arrivals back into the country would be required to quarantine themselves for a fortnight. To limit further travel, it transpired I’d be locking myself into a Wellington apartment, the opposite end of the North Island from my home of Auckland.
Continue reading...Her blend of steel and kindness is praiseworthy but come voting time in September the state of the economy will be the deciding factor
In her short tenure as prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has shown herself to be extremely good in a crisis.
After taking on the leadership of the Labour party just seven weeks before the 2017 general election, Ardern has put together a disparate coalition government, had a baby while in office, dealt with the Christchurch terrorist attacks, guided the nation through a deadly volcano eruption, and now this.
Continue reading...Campaigners hail move that will reclassify abortion as a health issue rather than a crime
New Zealand has passed a landmark bill to decriminalise abortion after decades of campaigning.
Andrew Little, the justice minister, said it was long overdue that the procedure would become classified as a health matter and not a criminal one.
Continue reading...Man, whose identity is suppressed in New Zealand, will appeal against both his conviction and his life sentence
The man found guilty of the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane will appeal his conviction and life sentence, lawyers said on Wednesday.
In November a jury of seven women and five men took just five hours to unanimously agree that the accused, whose name is suppressed, murdered Millane in his hotel room after the pair met on a date in Auckland’s CBD.
Continue reading...Though significant, Jacinda Ardern’s measures will not avert a downturn, and lower-income workers will be hardest hit
The New Zealand government’s announcement of a NZ$12.1bn spending package is massive – that’s undeniable. But the economic downturn that New Zealand faces will be even larger. The downturn is going to cause economic chaos, and it will see job losses. The key to limiting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy is supporting employment and businesses, and although the package assists these aims, it doesn’t go far enough.
The stimulus package mirrors similar measures around the world, with wage support and paid self-isolation leave. It boldly focuses on businesses, with support for employment as we enter a downturn – and that’s exactly the right area to be targeting. In New Zealand, increased payments to those already out of work have been announced, as have measures to free up business cashflow. It also includes a suite of additional measures. However, there is a glaring gap, with little support for lower-income workers themselves.
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