For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.
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7pm: The day in sum
There are no active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand for the first time since February. It’s now been 17 days since the last new case was reported.
New Zealand will move to alert level one at midnight tonight.
A new report on Oranga Tamariki baby uplift practices published by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner found “deep systemic issues” with families describing the system as dangerous, brutal and racist.
Jetstar announced it would resume domestic flights in New Zealand from July 1.
The Warehouse Group announced it was planning six store closures and an organisational restructure, with over 1,000 jobs potentially on the line.
6.20pm: Jetstar to resume domestic flights
Jetstar will resume domestic flying across New Zealand on July 1, with fares available from $21.d
The resumption of services will see Jetstar flying 75 return flights per week to five destinations, returning to approximately 60% of its normal domestic schedule. Customers with bookings on the remaining 40% of flights have been contacted and offered a range of options.
Jetstar will closely monitor demand, with further domestic flights likely be added to the schedule in coming months. The domestic schedule from 1 July includes:
- Auckland to Christchurch (24 weekly return flights)
- Auckland to Dunedin (3 return weekly flights)
- Auckland to Wellington (27 return weekly flights)
- Auckland to Queenstown (14 return weekly flights)
- Christchurch to Wellington (7 return weekly flights)
5.50pm: Splore Festival returning in 2021
Gigs are finally gearing up for a return with Splore announcing shortly after the alert level one announcement that the festival would be back next year.
Splore Festival director John Minty said New Zealand being Covid-19 free was a “determining factor” for going ahead with the festival. He said he was thrilled that it had happened much faster than he’d anticipated.
“There are so many small businesses that make up the fabric of Splore and I am really happy to engage our loyal crew and also support all our suppliers, sponsors, performers, artists, food and craft vendors,” said Minty.
But with Covid-19 still engulfing countries like the US and UK where Splore sources some of its music acts, Splore is set to take a “stay local” approach for 2021.
The festival is scheduled to take place on February 26-28, 2021 at Tapapakanga Regional Park.
5.10pm: National Transition Period comes to an end
At 1.53pm today, the National Transition Period which came into force on May 13 due to Covid-19 was officially terminated, Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced.
The National Transition Period supported a move from an emergency response into the initial recovery phase and provided the national recovery manager – the director of Civil Defence Emergency Management Sarah Stuart-Black – and others access to special powers designed to assist with recovery.
“With the powers available under the new Covid-19 Public Health Response Act 2020, the significant progress made by government agencies to coordinate longer-term welfare assistance and the commitment of our team of five million, I am satisfied that the National Transition Period is no longer required,” Henare said.
“[But] this move does not signal that New Zealanders should stop being vigilant in protecting themselves and others from the virus … It is essential we all follow the alert level one requirements and remain prepared.”
3.00pm: New Zealand to move to alert level one at midnight tonight
Read the full text of Jacinda Ardern’s speech here.
On the same day New Zealand reached the milestone of having no remaining active cases of Covid-19, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has announced the country will move to alert level one at midnight tonight.
“Around the world we saw people losing their loved ones and their livelihoods at a rate that was unacceptable to us,” said Ardern. “Our goal was to come out the other side as quickly and safely as we could,” she said. She said New Zealand had “united in unprecedented ways to crush the virus”.
Seventy-five days after first going into lockdown, “we are ready”, said Ardern. “Cabinet has agreed we will now move to level one, to get our economy fully open again, and we will start almost immediately. We move down to Covid-19 alert level one from midnight tonight.”
Ardern continued, “We are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not a point in time, it is a sustained effort. We will almost certainly see cases here again. That is not a sign that we have failed – it is a reality of this virus.”
As Ardern revealed last week, alert level one essentially means the removal of all Covid-19 rules and restrictions. But, she said this afternoon, “freedom from restrictions relies heavily on the ongoing role that our border controls will play in keeping the virus out”. Managed isolation and quarantine at the border will continue.
She said public-facing businesses would continue to be encouraged to display QR codes so people could keep a record of where they’ve been via the Covid Tracer app. There would also be a voluntary contact-tracing code for organisers of bigger events. She added, however, that “manual sign-in is no longer required”.
Read our roundup of what life will look like at level one here.
‘I did a little dance’ – PM’s reaction to zero active cases
Director general of health Ashley Bloomfield paid tribute to health workers and essential workers, adding that the achievement had come “because New Zealanders acted together in our collective interests, and we will need to continue to do that”.
On whether New Zealand could have moved to level one more quickly, as various commentators have suggested, Bloomfield responded, “We have come down faster and sooner and in a stronger position than any other country. Yes, we have been cautious, but we have not been over-cautious,” he said.
After the news of zero active cases, “I did a little dance,” said Ardern. Her toddler Neve “was caught a little by surprise, but she joined in”. Bloomfield said he did not do any moves, “but I did allow myself a broad smile”.
On when New Zealand was likely to partially open its borders, Ardern said that while Australia had been the focus of most of the public discussion, the Pacific Islands were also in the picture. Either way it had to be “two-way decision making, keeping in mind there are Pacific Island nations seeking the same open movement”, she said. “Both sides need to make sure we’re confident we’re not risking each other’s status.” She pointed out that with new cases in Australia being reported in recent days, as well as recent community transmission, “we need to move cautiously. No one wants to jeopardise the gains New Zealand has made.”
Business community welcomes move, but ‘for many it’s too late’
BusinessNZ’s Kirk Hope has commended the move to alert level one, saying “it means we can get back into our towns and cities, and fully back into our workplaces safely”. In a statement, he added: “Our economy depends on people actively buying, selling, producing, collaborating – the more of this we have, the quicker we recover. The public and private sectors, and all New Zealanders have a role to play in helping each other and making this happen.”
In a separate statement, Alan McDonald of the EMA said: “For many it is too late, but now we need a national response to get people flowing back through our town centres, back to work and getting the economy moving. International uncertainty and lack of confidence in the domestic economy means we need to see measures that will help restore the confidence of business owners, investors, workers and consumers to get the dollars flowing again. We need to get the economy on a fast-track to recovery. With the lack of cases and the excellent regimes businesses have put in place to maintain people’s health, no one should have any concerns about getting straight back to work.”
Hospitality New Zealand also welcomed the move, with chief executive Julie White saying restrictions such as social distancing and table service restraints had been “incredibly challenging”, and the lifting of them would allow businesses “to start to recover and slowly return, over time, to profitability”. In a statement, White welcomed the proposed loosening of our borders to Australia or the Pacific Islands, saying it would provide “a much-needed opportunity for the hospitality and tourism sector”. She also said the organisation would continue to ask all its members to display their QR codes “so that customers can continue to track their own movements for contact tracing purposes”.
2.50pm: Decision on move to alert level one – watch live
2.00pm: Michael Baker on zero active cases and elimination
With zero known active Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, can we say elimination is achieved? Not quite, according to Michael Baker, public health expert at the University of Otago and one of the most prominent voices in New Zealand’s effort against the virus.
“Having no active cases is an important milestone on the way to Covid-19 elimination,” said Baker. “These active cases are not themselves a major concern as we know about them and can ensure they are safely isolated. The worry has always been about the undetected cases that can cause outbreaks if we come out of lockdown too swiftly.”
He added: “It is a real achievement that New Zealand may shortly be moving to level one and removing the remaining physical distancing restrictions. This event, when it happens, is a statement that we have achieved the goal of eliminating the Covid-19 virus from this country.”
Read more from Baker, and other expert views collated by the Science Media Centre, here.
1.25pm: Announcement on level one move to be made at 3pm
Cabinet are meeting today to decide on the date New Zealand can move to alert level one. The decision will be announced in a media briefing by prime minister Jacinda Ardern and director general of health Ashley Bloomfield at 3pm. You’ll be able to watch the live stream and follow updates here.
1.20pm: Today’s data, charted
The charts we’ve all been waiting for.
1.00pm: No active cases
There are now no active cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has announced.
From the ministry’s media release:
Auckland Regional Public Health has informed the Ministry of Health that its last remaining case has been symptom free for 48 hours and is therefore regarded as recovered. The person, who had been linked to the St Margaret’s Hospital & Rest Home cluster in Auckland, has now been released from isolation.
“This is really good news for the person concerned, and it’s also something the rest of New Zealand can take heart from,” says Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
“Having no active cases for the first time since February 28 is certainly a significant mark in our journey but as we’ve previously said, ongoing vigilance against Covid-19 will continue to be essential.”
In this instance the individual was listed earlier on as a probable case but was removed when they tested negative for Covid-19. Then at a later date when they again became unwell, they tested positive. They were then included in the national tally as a confirmed case.
Further analysis confirmed that they did not have a Covid-19 infection the first time around and our reporting now reflects that more accurately. The data table on the Ministry website has changed to reflect the date they were confirmed as being infected.
It is now 17 days since the last new case was reported in New Zealand.
Our total number of confirmed cases remains at 1,154, which is the number we report to the World Health Organization.
Our combined total of confirmed and probable cases remains at 1,504.
The number of recovered cases is now 1,482.
There are no additional deaths to report.
There is no one in New Zealand receiving hospital-level care for Covid-19.
Yesterday our laboratories completed 800 tests, bringing the total number of tests completed to date to 294,848 – lower testing volumes are regularly observed over weekends.
We are keeping our testing approach under constant review. New Zealanders can be assured that our capacity remains high and that testing at the border and in our communities will continue to be an essential part of our Covid-19 elimination strategy.
We want to encourage and remind everyone that if they have any respiratory symptoms, they should seek advice from Healthline, their GP or after-hours clinic about getting tested. Testing is free.
Eight significant clusters have closed, this is unchanged from yesterday.
A cluster is considered to be closed when there have been no new cases for two incubation periods (i.e. 28 days) from the date when all cases have completed isolation.
The NZ Covid Tracer app has now recorded 522,000 registrations, an increase of 5,000 since this time yesterday.
12.30pm: Latest case numbers to be updated soon
There is no media briefing today, but a written media release from the Ministry of Health will be issued around 1pm to say whether or not we’ve made it to 17 days without a new case of Covid-19. Ashley Bloomfield fans need not despair, however, as the director general of health will be at the prime minister’s 3pm media briefing instead. We’ll have all the updates of both here on the blog.
10.45am: Air NZ apologises for delays, but ‘not in financial position’ to offer refunds
Air New Zealand has apologised to customers for delays in processing flight credits, but says it is “not in the financial position to offer full refunds on non-refundable fares.” The email from chief revenue officer Cam Wallace says the impact of Covid-19 has been “devastating” and acknowledges the difficulties customers have faced in contacting the airline regarding credits are “not the level of service you have come to expect from Air New Zealand”.
“Like most businesses, we are still facing some extraordinary circumstances,” Wallace writes. “Despite government support through a loan facility, the wage subsidy and significant cost reductions including the loss of 4,000 members of our team, we are not in the financial position to offer full refunds on non-refundable fares.”
“Providing credits is in line with almost all other airlines and similar businesses and helps ensure that over the longer-term, Air New Zealand has sufficient resources to allow us to continue operating,” the email says.
9.30am: Huge job cuts proposed at The Warehouse
Over 1,000 jobs are on the line at The Warehouse Group, with the company saying in an NZX announcement this morning that it was looking at closing six stores and moving to an “agile business model”. This change would affect 100 to 130 jobs the company’s head office, while the store closures could result in up to 950 job losses. The proposed closures include The Warehouse’s Whangaparaoa, Johnsonsville and Dunedin Central stores, Warehouse Stationery Te Awamutu and Noel Leeming’s Henderson Clearance Centre and Tokoroa stores.
8.15am: Report highlights ‘deep systemic issues’ in Oranga Tamariki
The stories featured in a new report into Oranga Tamariki’s uplift practices highlight “deep systemic issues”, says Children’s commissioner Andrew Becroft. The report, published today, is based on interviews with the families of 13 Māori pēpi who were either removed or at risk of removal by Oranga Tamariki or its predecessor Child, Youth and Family. In five of those cases the baby was uplifted by the state.
The families interviewed in the report said the system was dangerous, brutal and racist, with poor social work practices and an absence of support. “Whānau continue to feel as though they are living under constant threat of Oranga Tamariki, even when it has been deemed either by Child, Youth and Family or Oranga Tamariki that no further involvement is necessary,” the report said.
7.45am: Decision day for moving to level one
Cabinet will meet later today to decide exactly when New Zealand will move to alert level one. Last week, prime minister Jacinda Ardern indicated the move could happen as early as this Wednesday, “as long as we kept seeing the results that we’re seeing now.” There have been no new cases of Covid-19 since then, and it is now 17 days since the last case was announced. Under level one strict border controls will remain but all other restrictions will be “essentially lifted”, Ardern said last week.
A media conference on the decision will be held at 3pm this afternoon.
7.35am: Updates from today’s edition of The Bulletin
The course of politics over the last five years was arguably set during the tumultuous Northland by-election of 2015. After the resignation of former MP Mike Sabin, the race looked for all the world like it would be an orderly handover to National’s candidate, before NZ First leader Winston Peters jumped in and won an upset. The race laid the groundwork for what would become the Labour-NZ First coalition, and cemented NZ First’s political identity as a party for the regions. Peters’ post-election party was also notable in that it was attended by Shane Jones, who subsequently became an NZ First MP, and may now need to pull off a similar surprise to ensure his party’s survival.
The formal announcement came over the weekend that Jones would be the party’s candidate for Northland. He won’t be running against his party’s leader – Peters subsequently lost the seat back to National in 2017. It is widely considered NZ First’s best chance at an electorate seat, and with that the security of not having to reach the 5% threshold, which based on current polling is by no means assured. As Newshub’s story about the announcement noted, it isn’t exactly a surprise selection – Jones has been hinting heavily at such a run for years. In his transactional political style, he has ensured that a huge share of Provincial Growth Fund money has made its way to the region. With NZ First also pushing heavily to move Auckland’s port to Whangārei, those in the region who want such an outcome have a clear reason to vote for him. For more on the role Jones has played as a champion of various primary industries, this piece about the delayed rollout of cameras on commercial fishing boats by Justin Giovannetti is an excellent read.
If he does win, which way would NZ First go? That is a bit up in the air at the moment. New National leader Todd Muller has left the door ajar to working with NZ First after the election, even if the party’s formal position remains that they are out of the picture. NZ First is also likely to spend the next several months raising hell with Labour, to highlight the differences between the two parties. Radio NZ contributor Peter Wilson writes that the last week saw increasing pressure on PM Ardern over the perception of stability of the government she leads, because of disagreements with NZ First. It could be that it’s just for show, and that the two parties are getting along fine behind the scenes – or the relationship genuinely could be deteriorating. At this stage, Labour has said it has no plans to do any electorate deals with NZ First.
But we might be getting ahead of ourselves here, because can Jones actually win the seat? Writing in February, veteran columnist John Armstrong wrote on One News that Jones comes into the race at a significant disadvantage compared to when Peters won. In short – there’s only one Winston Peters, and Jones is not on his level, having never actually won an electorate despite several attempts. There’s the simple electoral maths of the seat, which strongly leans towards National, even if the incumbent Matt King only currently holds a slim majority. And you can’t go past the fact that the Northland by-election in 2015 was unique, not least because of the circumstances of the former MP’s departure, and the perceptions voters had of that.
In contrast, commentator and academic Grant Duncan told Newshub that Jones had a real chance, in a story that also included sympathetic comment from the local Federated Farmers president John Blackwell. Commentator Shane Te Pou gave Newstalk ZB a similar assessment, saying the chances were particularly good if Labour “tone it down a bit” in the seat, rather than running hard. Jones himself has flagged the campaign as likely to be a dirty one, making the argument in an interview with Politik that National are scared of him and so will fling mud. Either way, it will be one of the few electorate races that could define the wider election, so there’s no doubt it will be covered heavily.
Meanwhile, one current NZ First MP will not be having another crack at parliament. Stuff reports Clayton Mitchell is standing down, after a term of strange controversies, including being involved in the questions swirling around the NZ First Foundation – which are currently being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.
The question of statues that honour controversial colonial figures has been roiling the world recently. Footage emerged over the weekend of BLM protesters tearing down a statue of 17th century slave-trader Edward Colston in Bristol – and while the footage might seem shocking, the context is that this guy has the blood of tens of thousands of Africans on his hands. The issue has also exploded in the US, particularly aimed at monuments dedicated to figures in the slave-holding Confederate States of America.
With that international context, don’t be surprised if the long-simmering debate over similar statues erupts again in New Zealand. Two stories from Gisborne are worth sharing: Radio NZ reports that Gisborne District Council has backtracked on a decision to install replicas of Captain Cook’s Endeavour ship, after the original decision was made without consulting iwi. And the Gisborne Herald reports that the infamous ‘Crook Cook’ statue will be reinstalled on the grounds of Tairāwhiti Museum, but only after an “interpretation development process” had taken place, to work out how the statue can be presented in a way that reflects that Cook’s legacy is far more complex than simply being one of the first Europeans to turn up here.
Read more and subscribe to The Bulletin here
7.30am: The weekend’s key stories
New Zealand recorded no new cases of Covid-19. One active case remains.
NZ First released the top tier of its party list for this year’s election, and Shane Jones announced he would run in Northland.
Brazil stopped publishing its Covid-19 deaths as its toll surpassed Italy’s.
Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who were poisoned by Russian agents in a London park in 2018, have begun a new life under assumed identities in New Zealand, according to the Sunday Times.
A second Black Lives Matter protest was announced for June 14 in central Auckland, with stronger social distancing precautions in place.