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.

The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here.

2.50: Earthquake near New Plymouth

A large earthquake has struck near New Plymouth. A preliminary report from Geonet says the quake was magnitude 4.9 and struck 35km north of the city, at a depth of 11km. Several people have reported feeling the quake as far away as Te Awamutu.

2.20pm: Police drive into a crowd as protests rage across US

Police have driven into a crowd of people in Brooklyn, New York, as protests over racism and police violence continue across the US.

The protests taking place in dozens of major cities were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minnesota. Former police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with murder after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, leading to his death. Floyd, an African-American man, repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” as he died.

Several of the demonstrations over Floyd’s death have been marked by violence. In Salt Lake City, a man with a hunting bow pulled over in his car and threatened protesters. Footage shows him appearing to shoot an arrow before being swarmed and tackled to the ground.

Curfews have been imposed in several cities and the National Guard has been deployed in 14 states, as authorities struggle to rein in the protests.

2pm: Today’s data, charted

There hasn’t been a new case of Covid-19 in New Zealand for nine days. The country’s number of recovered cases now dwarfs its active cases 1481 to one.

The one remaining active case of Covid-19 is in Auckland, which remains the place with most infections in the country.

1pm: No new cases of Covid-19, one active case remaining

12.45pm: New case numbers expected soon

The Ministry of Health is set to release New Zealand’s latest Covid-19 case numbers via press release at 1pm. There is only one remaining active case of Covid-19 left in the country, leaving the prospect open that this announcement could reveal we have eliminated the virus.

11.50am: Chief science adviser hopeful on border reopening

The prime minister’s chief science advisor Juliet Gerrard has made the case for a nimble and selective approach to reopening New Zealand’s borders. In an article for the Herald this morning, Gerrard and research analyst Rachel Chiaroni-Clarke explain the risks posed by opening the borders to countries with major Covid-19 outbreaks like the US, and the comparatively small danger of allowing incoming travel from places like Australia or China, where the virus is more under control. They argue that New Zealand could safely reopen its borders in the near future, provided it’s only to countries that are recording consistently low, or zero, increases in Covid-19 case numbers.

However, that comes with a note of warning. Border reopening should be accompanied by mandatory temperature testing for travelers, along with virus testing and possibly antibody testing, Gerrard and Chiaroni-Clarke say. Health authorities should also be empowered to change border restrictions quickly in response to any spikes in case numbers overseas. They raise the example of Singapore, which was thought to have its Covid-19 outbreak mostly under control, only to see a big rise in infection numbers.

Read the full article here.

10.35am: Baker calls for health reform, warns of future threats

Epidemiologist Michael Baker has called on the government to set up a New Zealand centre for disease control as he warns of potentially greater threats than Covid-19 on the horizon. Speaking on RNZ this morning, Baker said New Zealand may have avoided lockdown if a CDC was coordinating resourcing and informing the health response to the pandemic. He pointed to the example of Taiwan, where the quick actions of a central disease control agency have helped businesses and schools stay open throughout the crisis. “We need to have systems for responding much faster to these threats,” he said.

New Zealand’s pandemic response was coordinated by the Ministry of Health, and enacted by 20 DHBs across the country. Some DHBs have been criticised for elements of their response. Concerns were raised about the availability of PPE at Waikato Hospital after three nurses tested positive for the disease. Waitematā DHB chief Andrew Brant apologised to Waitākere Hospital health workers who were infected with Covid-19 while treating members of the St Margarets Rest Home cluster. Pressure is on the government to reform the DHB system after a critical review from Heather Simpson said it had led to fragmented, inconsistent decision-making and under-resourcing.

Baker said the CDC could be needed in future, as there are several “highly plausible” disease threats that would wreak even worse devastation than Covid-19. He warned particularly of the threat of bioengineered diseases, which could be used in terrorist attacks. “There are unfortunately many grim scenarios that I think we need to prepare for,” he said.

9.50am: Protests continue outside White House

Protesters are clashing with Secret Service agents outside the White House as demonstrations over the death of George Floyd take place across the US. Former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin has been fired and charged with murder after kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, leading to his death. Protests over the death began in Minnesota and have now spread to dozens of major cities including Washington DC. Live footage shows protesters demonstrating outside the White House for a second day running. The Secret Service made six arrests at yesterday’s protests on Pennsylvania Avenue.

9.25am: Should we go straight to alert level one?

For eight days now New Zealand has had zero new cases of Covid-19. Yesterday was the second consecutive day with only one known active case. At 1pm today we could be reporting that there is no known person in the country with the disease. Given all that, it’s no wonder there are so many – politicians, businesses, columnists – calling on the government to scrap plans to reassess on June 8 and instead move immediately down to alert level one.

Writing for The Spinoff this morning, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles warns against undue haste. Modelling lays out the importance of consolidating wins. The examples of Sinagpore and South Korea show how quickly the virus can roar back, and how damaging that can be. Critically, there’s the issue of the incubation period.

Dr Wiles writes: “Because it takes roughly two to ten days for people to develop symptoms, our string of no cases reflects the beginning of level two. We’ve only just opened up our bars and nightclubs and increased our gathering sizes. If the virus is out there, we’ve just increased its opportunities to show us where it’s at. Now we just need to wait to see what happens.”

Read the full article here.

8.40am: The other global success stories on Covid-19

New Zealand is often hailed as a global success story when it comes to its Covid-19 pandemic response, but several countries have even more impressive statistics. Mongolia hasn’t had a single death from the virus, and has no cases of community transmission. Now CNN has written on Vietnam, which has recorded just 328 cases of Covid-19 and no deaths, despite having several dense cities and a population of 97 million. Some are skeptical about those numbers, but a Ho Chi Minh City infectious diseases doctor Guy Thwaites told the outlet they match what he is seeing on the ground. “I go to the wards every day, I know the cases, I know there has been no death,” he said.

Read the full story here.

8.15am: The story behind SpaceX’s spacesuits

If you want to know more about the distinctive spacesuits Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken wore for the SpaceX launch this morning, BusinessInsider has written on the design process. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he and his team spent three years designing the suits to “look good and work well”. That task is harder than it sounds. As the story says, “spacesuits are essentially complex, personalised, human-shaped spacecraft”. SpaceX’s suits were a collaboration between Jose Fernandez, a costume designer for superhero movies such as The Avengers, and technical experts.

8am: First ever crewed space launch by a private company

SpaceX has carried out the first ever crewed space launch by a private company. Two NASA astronauts are in orbit aboard a rocket designed by the company founded by Elon Musk after a launch at Cape Canaveral in Florida this morning. The astronauts, Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken, now have a 24-hour journey ahead of them to get to the International Space Station.

The launch happened on time at 7.22am (3.22pm US Eastern Time). Everything has gone to plan so far, with three stages of the launch being carried out without issue. A first booster rocket separated from the Falcon-9 rocket shortly after liftoff, and landed on a barge. The Crew Dragon module, which the astronauts are on board, separated from Falcon-9 around 7.40am. The rocket is due to dock at the ISS at around 2.30pm tomorrow.

7.30am: Yesterday’s key stories

There was no change to any of the main numbers, with no new cases for the eighth day in a row and one active case remaining.

US president Donald Trump followed through on threats to withdraw from the World Health Organisation, saying China had “total control” over the global health body.

National’s Covid-19 response spokesperson Amy Adams joined the chorus of politicians calling for a quicker move to alert level one, hours after epidemiologist Sir David Skegg was quoted in the Weekend Herald as saying “people who advocate a move to level one straight away are either ignorant or indulging in political posturing”.

Covid-19 testing centres began closing their doors, with GPs expected to take over the majority of testing in the next couple of weeks.

The New Zealand Warriors became the country’s first major professional sports team to return to competition following the Covid-19 shutdown, playing the St George Illawarra Dragons in Australia – and making NRL history in the process with a spectacular 18-0 victory.

Read yesterday’s live updates here

From 2012 to 2013, a small bunch of enterprising Dunedin promoters opened a new nightlife frontier in the city: club nights for teens, held in adult bars with minimal adult supervision. But should 13-year-olds really be clubbing? Caroline Moratti reports.

Underage clubs have a long and questionable history, as anyone who remembers overpriced glow sticks and the stench of Cool Charm wafting from gymnasium bathrooms can tell you. But while teen “nightclubs” usually come in the guise of chaste school socials and Blue Light discos, for a short time in Dunedin they were ambitious commercial events – and dancing to ‘Gangnam Style’ with your mates suddenly became a lot more exciting.

In 2012, Daniel Chew was a club photographer with connections throughout the Dunedin club scene. Realising that high schoolers were a largely untapped nightlife market, he founded The Nightclub Experience with a plan to create ticketed, alcohol-free parties where pre-teens and teens could party in safety. Chew wasn’t the only one with this idea; similar companies around the same time included Dunedin Socials, Blackout and 18UNDER. The latter was originally launched to help fundraise following the Christchurch earthquakes, only later becoming an events business aimed at teens.

The parties these companies held quickly became legendary. Hundreds of 12 to 15-year-olds would crowd into adult nightclubs like Sammys and The Break, Jason Derulo blaring through the speakers, the floors sticky and laden with cans. Sometimes a foam machine sprayed the crowd, or UV lights were switched on to give white clothing an otherworldly glow. It was messy and sweaty, but thankfully dark. Photos of the events posted on Facebook were a golden ticket to popularity. Girls in bright neon dresses and freshly-straightened hair plastered newsfeeds, the photos declaring you were there, you were cool. Curling a peace sign around your eyes in photos was, well, a thing. Stories of hook-ups and wild nights circulated through high school hallways. In Dunedin in 2012, it was, without a doubt, the place to be.

“If you wanted a snazzy new DP (profile picture) or a chance at getting your first hookup, this was where you were gonna get it,” Chew says. “After all, there was no Tinder, Instagram was barely a thing and most kids didn’t even have cell phones.” While some events were held as fundraisers to help sporting or dance groups compete nationally, at $10 a ticket Chew was making a good living from the increasingly popular parties. As the events gained momentum, they became more ambitious. DJs were flown down from Auckland, and big companies including Skinny Mobile and Mother Energy drinks came onboard as sponsors.

For teenagers like Sonia*, the parties were a rare chance to get dressed up, to dance and to meet kids from other schools. She was a student rep for 18UNDER, which meant she got a free ticket as a perk of promoting the events and selling tickets to her classmates. While students were encouraged to apply to be a rep – a coveted role awarded to those with an unusually high number of Facebook friends – some reps were forced to sell tickets in secret after schools implemented bans.

The parties might have been a social highlight for the teens of Dunedin, but they were hardly uncontroversial. While Sonia didn’t drink at the club nights, “all my friends from other schools would turn up wasted”, she says. Other attendees The Spinoff spoke to claimed “pre-loading” was common, the alcohol often sourced from older friends or siblings. Chew admits underage drinking was a regular problem, and that kids were always attempting to sneak alcohol into the venue. “Fortunately we had professional bouncers that actually worked in nightclubs, so we could spot that a mile away,” he says. That being said, just as in an adult club environment, intoxication could be hard to detect at the door. Chew recalls finding a girl aged around 14 passed out in the bathroom, having consumed half a bottle of tequila on the car ride there.

Emma*, who attended events at around the same age, says they were far “saucier” than her regular school socials. “I remember having my first tongue-to-tongue hook-up at one, which was traumatic and disgusting but really did feel like a nightclub experience. I also had my ass pinched numerous times which… would never would’ve happened at our school socials.” Several other women The Spinoff spoke to recalled similar groping experiences at the events. “Everyone was clearly drunk,” says Andrea*, who remembers “all the cool kids… in the corner sitting on boys’ laps making out. It was clearly just a hookup fest.” Sonia says the venues, particularly Sammy’s, tended to have lots of “nooks and crannies to sneak away to” and remembers the events as “very sexual in a way – you’d always hear stories after about the naughty things people did”.

So how much adult supervision actually occurred at these events that were marketed as safe spaces for young teens? Next to none at all, claims Sonia, who says she remembers “no teachers present – or adults for that matter. The only supervision was the security at the door – so a maximum of four of them – and apart from that, the DJ and photographer were adults, and that’s it.”

A former co-organiser at 18UNDER, the company formed in the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes, says that wasn’t true of the events they ran. “Unlike some of our competitors in the youth event space, we placed a strong emphasis on security and the right agencies being involved throughout the process.”

The 18UNDER employee, who asked not to be named, says their events included more security than the recommended event ratio, street patrols around the venue, bag checks and breath testing on entry, non-alcoholic food and drinks for sale, a safe space for attendees, and parents/caregivers required to walk up to the event exit to collect their child at the conclusion of the event. The former owner of a bar where some 18UNDER events were held confirmed that levels of security and care were high.

However, the attendees The Spinoff talked to for this story didn’t recall being breath-tested at 18UNDER events. Posts on an events page for Reload, an 18UNDER sub-brand, advertised specifically that there was no breath-testing at the door. These posts were deleted after The Spinoff contacted the former 18UNDER employee.

In March 2012, not long after The Nightclub Experience was launched, the Otago Daily Times ran a news story headlined ‘Teenage Foam Party Concerns’. In it, the principal of Otago Boys High School wondered rhetorically if it was “appropriate to hold a function where 14- and 15-year-olds are squirted with foam while wearing white T-shirts” and called the event “inappropriate” and “lewd”. A newsletter had been sent to Boys High School parents warning them of the events and ticket-selling within schools, the paper reported. Defending the party in question, Chew told the newspaper attendees would be in fluoro T-shirts, not white, and that the event would be a safer environment than a private home where alcohol might not be tightly controlled.

Chew still believes that the controversy over the parties was overblown. “In retrospect, I think it actually had a positive influence on how these students grew up and acted in town later on in life,” he says now.

In April 2013, with the teen nightclub market reaching saturation point, Chew closed The Nightclub Experience. Its competitor UNDER18 became “the most popular and only remaining youth event provider in the market” according to the organiser we spoke to, but a decline in attendance and increased operating costs saw the last dance occur in August that year. And so the debauchery ended. Rome fell, replaced once more by a boring Byzantium of police Blue Light discos and youth club socials. Life went back to normal and peace was restored to Dunedin. Similar events were occasionally attempted in other cities but as Chew recalls, they were largely flops. The teen market had moved on.

So, were these events a safe space or an inappropriately adult environment for kids only a few years out of primary school? The jury’s still out. The teen parties don’t appear to have broken any laws, and they provided an opportunity to cut some moves with your mates in a (sometimes) supervised environment. Groping, smoking and underage drinking were common, but that’s the reality of youth partying wherever it occurs. Plus with a bop like Carly Rae Jepson’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ on the charts, the kids needed to dance! At 13, kids are old enough to want to dance with their friends – and ideally also with the opposite sex – but still too young for house parties. The club events gave them a place to cut loose.

These days Sonia has mixed feelings about the events – but no regrets. “They were fun and enjoyable and a place for experimenting,” she says. “I’d let my kids go to them if they exist when I’m a parent.” Emma is still torn over the way the club nights introduced young teens to adult nightlife – and all the alcohol that goes with it – but acknowledges that teenage drinking is rampant regardless. Looking back at her time at the parties, “they were unsafe and probably inappropriate…but fuck, I had a good time.”

* Some names have been changed