The Government has further tightened up testing at the borders with new measures introduced overnight.
Managed isolation and quarantine workers must now be tested for Covid-19 every seven days, while air and maritime workers will be tested every 14 days.
Anyone refusing testing without good reason can now be fined up to $1000 .
Border-facing workers are also undergoing a second round of testing to try and uncover further clues as to the origins of the current Auckland outbreak.
It comes as four more cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the community yesterday, all linked to the Mt Roskill church cluster.
The Ministry of Health also confirmed there wasn’t a positive case of Covid-19 in Christchurch, after earlier issuing a statement saying a case was being investigated there.
Stuff reports Auckland testing stations were quiet over the weekend, despite two deaths in as many days from the virus.
A man in his 50s became the youngest New Zealander to succumb to the virus on Friday night and is due to be buried in his hometown of Tokoroa this week, while former Cook Islands Prime Minister Joe Williams also lost his battle with the virus on Saturday morning.
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Strong support for restrictions
Exclusive numbers from TVNZ’s Vote Compass tool reveal two-thirds of New Zealanders agree with keeping Auckland at Alert Level 2.5 and the rest of the country at Level 2. Just 23 per cent are against it.
More than 4000 people were asked about the issue following Friday’s announcement there would be no changes to the current alert levels until at least September 16 .
Despite New Zealand’s biggest city having tighter restrictions, there was no significant difference between how Aucklanders felt about the alert levels and those elsewhere.
Meanwhile, frustrations have boiled over across the Tasman where Victoria’s Premier revealed his timetable for gradually easing the state’s current lockdown restrictions.
As protest rallies took place in Melbourne, authorities confirmed Victoria will remain in lockdown for at least another two weeks.
Flu numbers well down
There's been a dramatic drop in the number of Kiwis hospitalised with the flu this winter.
Just 200 people have required hospital treatment for influenza so far this year, compared to more than 6500 for the whole of 2019.
The decrease has been put down to lockdown, ongoing border closures, social distancing and better hygiene practises.
Those moves are being credited with saving some of the lives lost every year to flu and respiratory illness, however health experts expect those rates to start climbing again as restrictions ease.
Buying sight unseen
It was once a rare event, but New Zealand’s real estate agents are now seeing a surge in homes being sold without buyers physically looking at the property.
With more Kiwis looking to move home, they’re being forced to buy while still overseas .
Friends and family members are being enlisted to canvass potential homes, while others are relying on virtual tours of the properties.
Meanwhile, a lobby group for property owners is advising landlords to wait until the results of October’s election before ensuring their rentals meet new heating standards.
The Herald reports the NZ Property Investors Foundation’s advice follows National’s Judith Collins saying they would scrap the new Healthy Homes standards if elected.
The Labour Party says the Foundation’s comments are “deeply disappointing”.
Spouses in spotlight
With Parliament dissolved over the weekend, the countdown to the election is officially on and parties are campaigning in earnest .
TVNZ’s Q+A has looked at the role of politicians’ spouses in campaigns, following recent headlines about Judith Collins’ husband, David Wong-Tung.
University of Auckland Associate Professor Jennifer Lees-Marshment says the role of a political leader’s spouse is no longer about quietly standing by their partner’s side.
She says they’ve now become part of an overall campaign brand – and says this can be a “huge burden” for politicians’ families.
Other news of note this morning:
- One person is dead and seven others injured after a stabbing attack in the English city of Birmingham overnight.
- The war medals of Māori Battalion soldiers are about to be claimed for the first time in 75 years.
- One of the hotels involved in New Zealand’s managed isolation efforts has apologised to a guest after their personal details were used for marketing purposes .
- Sheep farmers are facing potential animal welfare issues as summer approaches and a shortage of shearers looms.
- Experts are at loggerheads over the best way to teach New Zealand's children to read.
- And the excitement of making the All Blacks squad has been laid bare in a video of 20-year-old Tupou Vaa’i telling his family he’d made the cut. Cue happy tears and screams of joy .
And finally...
This week’s 1 NEWS Good Sort is Harry Tawa, the school bus driver every kid needs in their life .
The Tauranga man is on a first name basis with his young passengers and told 1 NEWS he considers each of them “precious cargo”.
As well as delivering the kids from A to B, he’s a source of biscuits and birthday cards. And if somebody hops on his bus with a long face, Tawa always checks in to see what’s happened.
“Any kid that comes on my bus will walk off this bus a happy child,” he says, which sounds like good energy for all of us to take through into the week ahead.
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