New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.
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Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.

New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.

Today’s content

Public health strategy
Henry Cooke (Stuff): New model shows coronavirus could kill 80,000 Kiwis without lockdown
Kate Newton (RNZ): Modelling shows NZ’s lockdown could buy time for a vaccine
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Research shows 80,000 Kiwis could die without strict lockdown measures
Shaun Hendy (Spinoff): The maths that explains why we’re locking down
Michael Daly (Stuff): What happens after New Zealand has been locked down?
James Fyfe (Newshub): Infectious disease expert warns Kiwis to be prepared for the ‘long game’

Government
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Trust Jacinda Ardern to get us through (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): After the lockdown, what?
Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): How Do You Feel? What Do You Think?
Peter Dunne: The need to get the lockdown rules right
Luke Malpass (Stuff): Government needs to get its bubble self-isolated
Gordon Campbell: Six short takes about the lockdown
Sam Clench: Clarity is the quality that makes Jacinda Ardern so effective in a crisis
Verity Johnston (Stuff): When it comes to coronavirus, Ardern is winning on the world stage
Amelia Wade (Herald): Government threatens action against people taking advantage of the crisis
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown running ‘as smoothly as could be expected’ – Ardern
Eleanor Ainge Roy (Guardian): Ardern thanks nation as New Zealand adjusts to ‘new normal’ of Covid-19 lockdown
1News: Jacinda Ardern praised after impromptu Facebook Live session about coronavirus, lockdown

State of Emergency powers
Gehan Gunasekara (Herald): Rights must be restored once Covid-19 coronavirus threat is over (paywalled)
Thomas Beagle (NZ Council for Civil Liberties): Civil liberties during a pandemic
1News: State of emergency gives Government, police, most power since 1950s but they still have limits, expert says
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): Hating the NZ Police State while demanding it in an age of Pandemic Solidarity

Enforcing the lockdown
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Army on standby if people don’t comply with lockdown
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Police can now enter homes to look for people gathering
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Breaking lockdown rules could end in 6 month prison sentence for people
RNZ: Rule breakers warned by police on first night of alert level 4
1News:‘This is serious stuff’ – Police boss explains what to do if you see people violating coronavirus lockdown
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Police ‘absolutely discourage’ all driving during lockdown that isn’t essential
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Comply or ‘others will die’: Police warning as drivers claim no knowledge of lockdown rules
Anna Leask (Herald): Retired cops may be back on the beat to bolster under-pressure frontline
Matthew Tso (Stuff): Cops team up with Wellington Paranormal TV cast to spread health messages

Border
Henry Cooke (Stuff): Close to half of new arrivals held at border because they had no self-isolation plan
Melanie Earley and John Weekes (Stuff): Police usher returning Kiwis into Auckland hotel, campervans on standby
Michael Morrah (Newshub): Couple quarantined in hotel by police ‘made to feel like criminals’
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): Returning to a nation in quarantine
Dileepa Fonseka (Newsroom): ‘Dark period’ for 200,000 visitors in NZ
Kate Newston (RNZ): Interactive: How Covid-19 arrived in New Zealand

Lockdown images
RNZ: Photos: New Zealand wakes up to a new way of life
Stuff: Wellington wasteland: day one of the lockdown
Lana Andelane (Newshub): New Zealand’s most populated city a ghost town on day one of lockdown
Herald: An eerie silence across New Zealand
1News: Haunting images of an empty New Zealand
ODT: Photos: Lockdown empties the streets
Daisy Hudson (ODT): Streets a sign most obeying rules

Lockdown
1News: Last day for Kiwis travelling within NZ to get home amid coronavirus lockdown
Charlotte Graham-McLay (Guardian): New Zealand in lockdown: a surreal experience when you can’t see the enemy
Rob Mitchell (Stuff): Wellington locked down and loaded to battle coronavirus
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Mittens the Wellington feline celebrity in lockdown
RNZ: Covid-19 lockdown day one: Things going as smoothly as possible as NZ begins new way of life

Health system – protective gear
Sam Yu (Press): Despite the confusing messages, facemasks will help in this pandemic
Phil Pennington RNZ): Not enough protective medical gear available despite govt assurances – supplier
Liu Chen (RNZ): Nurses asked not to wear masks feel unsafe at work
RNZ: Hundreds of masks to be released to district health boards
Lincoln Tan (Herald): Concerns that hospital nurses have no access to masks
Stephen Forbes (Stuff): Funeral directors need more protective gear or bodies ‘won’t be removed’
Nikki Mandow (Newsroom): “Please help us”: Home care workers still without protective gear
Ripu Bhatia (Stuff): Dentists ‘urgently concerned’ at lack of masks for emergency care

Health system
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Entire hospitals could be used to treat the sick
RNZ: Checkpoint: Does NZ have enough ICU beds, ventilators?
1News: South Auckland doctors ‘preparing for the worst’ as coronavirus outbreak looms
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Inside Dunedin’s fight against Covid-19 (+ video)
Nicholas Jones (Herald): Huge elective surgery shift to private hospitals to free-up space
Herald: Rest home staff move in with their residents
RNZ: Hospitals restrict visitors, postpone surgery
Dubby Henry (Herald): Stockpiling of medicines putting ‘major strain’ on supplies, Pharmac says
1News: Pharmacies bring in prescription restrictions to prevent stockpiling amid coronavirus lockdown
1News: Paramedics prepared for coronavirus outbreak responses amid lockdown
Simon Collins (Herald): Nurses still can’t find childcare for their children
1News: NZ doctor has built an army of medical professionals to combat Covid-19
Helen Glenny (Newsroom): The fight for our blood supply

Employment – treatment of workers
Leonie Hayden (Spinoff): Dispatch from the frontline: a supermarket checkout manager on life under Covid-19
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Burger King workers left in the lurch over lockdown pay
Laura Wiltshire (Stuff): Immunocompromised workers told to take unpaid leave or come to work
Hannah Kronast (Newshub): Staff forced to work through lockdown launch petition against retail store
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff): Fletcher Building staff pay uncertain during month-long lockdown
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Christchurch Novotel staff accuse hotel of not keeping them safe as dozens of international guests arrive for quarantine
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Air New Zealand’s treatment of workers in coronavirus shutdown questioned
1News: Sistema workers allowed to go home on full pay after ‘essential service’ order leads to strike
Isaac Davison (Herald): Workers in essential services say they feel unsafe
Rebecca Ryan (ODT): Meatworks staff tell of safety fears
Glen Scanlon (RNZ): Your Covid-19 questions answered: Working under the lockdown
Anna Whyte (1News): Ardern thanks supermarket, bank workers and cleaners ‘on behalf of all NZ’
Colleen Hawkes (Stuff): Essential workers’ families struggle at home with need to stay safe

Wage subsidies
Rachel Sadler (Newshub): Employers who receive wage subsidy could commit fraud if they don’t act in good faith
Bridie Witton (Stuff): More than 200,000 employers apply for coronavirus wage subsidy and leave payments

Essential services and businesses
Gavin Evans (BusinessDesk): Ports, truckers warn of looming freight blockages (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Stuff): Work continues at cigarette factory through lockdown
Maia Hart (Stuff): Wine industry’s ‘privileged position’ concerns wider wine capital community
RNZ: Wine industry faces worker accommodation woes during lockdown
Bonnie Flaws (Stuff): Businesses that support critical goods and services in primary sector to continue, says MPI
Eric Frykberg (RNZ): Miners exempt from lockdown as govt classifies coal as essential energy
Mat Kermeen (Stuff): TAB still trading online during lockdown as Kiwi punters at their most ‘vulnerable’
David Farrar: Is horse racing an essential service?
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Lockdown will reveal New Zealand’s ‘silent heroes’ as ‘economy goes on ice’ – economist
Sarah Templeton (Newshub): Mad Butcher angers people by declaring itself an ‘essential service’, vowing to stay open during lockdown
Aimee Shaw (Herald): Mad Butcher stores continue to trade despite lockdown order
Anuja Nadkarni (Stuff0: Raglan butcher left with $40k of stock because of essential business confusion
Brianna McIlraith (Stuff): Supermarkets, petrol stations told to stop serving takeaway coffee

Unemployment, economy
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Covid-19 epidemic could take unemployment from 4 to 30 percent – economists
Tony Alexander (Stuff): Lower retirement age could be part of solution to unemployment crunch
Paul Buchanan: Living within our means
Brent Edwards (NBR): Road bumps to be expected as government confronts Covid-19 (paywalled)
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Coronavirus crisis to be ‘significantly worse’ than GFC – Finance Minister Grant Robertson
Brian Fallow (Herald): How Reserve Bank is fighting the virus (paywalled)
Rod Oram (Newsroom): Two Herculean efforts to save economy
Newstalk ZB: Economist says NZ is already in a recession

Inequality
Rob Stock (Stuff): Loan applications crash, except among poor desperate to stock larders
Jane Matthews (Taranaki Daily News): Lockdown hits foodbanks and organisations that feed school children

Māori
RNZ: How Māori across Aotearoa are working to stop the spread of Covid-19
Te Aniwa Hurihanganui (RNZ): Far North iwi checkpoint closes
Donna-Lee Biddle (Stuff): Tourists turned away at Far North checkpoints

Housing
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Property investor claims human rights breach as Govt clamps down amid coronavirus outbreak
RNZ: Paying rent in lockdown: Officials clarify legislation for property managers
Derek Cheng (Herald): Property manager slammed over letter to tenants about not paying rent
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): ‘It won’t be the virus that takes me out’: Tenant’s shock as landlord flouts Government’s new rental rules
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Jacinda Ardern’s warning to landlords playing hardball with tenants amid lockdown
Thomas Coughlan (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern wants names of landlords flouting new rules
Rob Stock (Stuff): Coronavirus mortgage ‘holidays’ can save homes, but people’s credit scores also need protecting

Homeless
1News: Social services rush to help homeless as lockdown begins
Eva Corlett (RNZ): Some rough sleepers still have nowhere to go during lockdown
Alice Webb-Liddall (Spinoff): Guidelines say stay at home. But what about those who don’t have one?

Education
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): Hundreds of childcare centres hit by lockdown to get insurance payout
Erin Gourley (Critic): Opinion: Otago Fked Up with Covid-19
Brittany Keogh (Stuff): Food, rent money and laptops for struggling uni students

KiwiSaver
Rob Stock (Stuff): Emergency moves to make KiwiSaver hardship withdrawals possible under lockdown
Rob Stock (Stuff): Call to suspend $800 million KiwiSaver subsidies during Covid-19 crisis

Local government
Joel MacManus (Stuff): Rates relief announcements likely coming next week
Logan Savory (Southland Times): Invercargill Mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt faces up to technology challenge in lockdown
Christina Persico (Stuff): Law change for council meetings to continue remotely
Georgina Campbell (Herald): How Wellington City councillors are doing lockdown
Hamish McLean (ODT): DCC Council staff aid in tracing Covid contacts
Vita Molyneux (Newshub): Wellington City Council halts all recycling for coronavirus lockdown
Jared Morgan (ODT): Changes made to rubbish collection, recycling

Price gouging reports, stocking up
Anna Whyte (1News): Govt follows up on reports of price gouging at supermarkets
Aimee Shaw (Herald): By the numbers – What Kiwis have been panic buying

Volunteering, community care
Amelia Wade (Herald): $27 million to keep NGOs and community groups going
1News: People at risk, disability services get $27m for help during Covid-19 lockdown
RNZ: Community organisations ‘crying out’ for volunteers as over-70s isolate
Jono Galuszka (Manawatū Standard): RongoCare: How a small village stays alone together during self-isolation

NZers in Australia
Joe Nunweek (Overland): On the wrong side of the ditch
Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): The truth of bubbles we are living in

Tourists in NZ
Amanda Cropp (Stuff): Air NZ helping fly home 15,000 stranded Germans and Europeans
1News: Lockdown leaves families trapped and separated abroad and at home
Charlotte Jones (RNZ): Freedom campers in lockdown in Whakatane carpark

Other
Adam Dudding and Eugene Bingham (Stuff): Coronavirus NZ podcast: The price of breaching lockdown
Bryan Gaynor (BusinessDesk): Is your bank safe and, if not, what is your position? paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): State of the telcos: Lockdown teething issues will pass, but big problem remains (paywalled)
1News: Elderly encouraged to have a self-isolation buddy to get through lockdown
Chloe Ranford (Stuff): ‘Do not attempt to go boating’ during lockdown
Bruce Munro (ODT): Global Insight: ‘Solidarity needed’ to win Covid-19 war
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Oranga Tamariki moves online amid fears for increase in domestic violence
Breanna Barraclough (1News): Urgent appeal sees SPCA rehome more than 1000 pets nationwide ahead of lockdown
Rob Stock (Stuff): Insurers have ‘pandemic insurance’ in case virus deaths spike
Robin Martin (RNZ): Grey Power welcomes decision to pull funeral cover ads during shutdown
Rob Stock (Stuff): Lockdown will ‘kill’ construction companies, ‘unless Government acts’
RNZ: Tonga declares lockdown starting this weekend
Leigh-Marama McLachlan (RNZ): Families at Ihumātao staying in one bubble during lockdown
John Anthony (Stuff): 90 jobs gone after Auckland Airport suspends second runway
RNZ: $5m expected to provide ‘lifeline’ for tourism workers
Greg Ninness (Interest): Property market comes to a virtual standstill

Christchurch mosque shootings – Brenton Tarrant pleads guilty
RNZ: Checkpoint (RNZ): Mosque shooting survivor explains love, forgiveness for the terrorist
1News: ‘I want to pray for him’ – Christchurch mosque victims respond after attacker pleads guilty
Kurt Bayer (Herald): How Brenton Tarrant’s shock admissions unfolded
Kurt Bayer (Herald): Shock in courtroom as gunman admits being March 15 killer
Sam Hurley (Herald): Will terrorist and mosque killer be deported to Australia?
Sam Hurley (Herald): Kiwis have no constitutional right to bear arms, Court of Appeal rules in failed challenge to Govt gun ban
1News: Biggest number of Police in operation as new graduates bring total to 10,000
1News: Jacinda Ardern ‘let out massive sigh of relief’ at Christchurch mosque gunman’s guilty plea
David Williams (Newsroom): The terrorist pleaded guilty, now what?
Martin van Beynen (Stuff): Why did the mosque shooter change his mind?

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