Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for September 6, by Stewart Sowman-Lund. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz. Help us keep you informed on Covid-19 – click here to learn how you can join The Spinoff Members.
Today’s agenda
- 1pm: The latest Covid-19 numbers will be provided via press release from the Ministry of Health. We’ll publish that in full as soon as it arrives in my inbox. Yesterday saw a drop in new cases with just 20 announced, all in Auckland. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a further decline today.
- 4pm: Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield will reveal any alert level changes for the country (aside from Auckland). Grant Robertson this morning said that there were “encouraging signs” for an alert level drop, with some experts calling for an intermediary alert level 2.5. We’re also expecting more detail about plans to expedite changes to terrorism legislation. Ardern indicated on Saturday that the Counter Terrorism Legislation Bill, currently at select committee, would be pushed through under urgency, and passed at the latest by the end of the month.
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9.55am: Peter Williams leaves Magic Talk, Ryan Bridge named AM Show host
MediaWorks has unveiled several key changes to its broadcasting line-up, with morning show host Peter Williams set to leave the network.
In a release, it was revealed Williams would be retiring from broadcasting. Little detail was provided about his moves, and no quotes from Williams were provided. The network said the 67-year-old wished to “enjoy a life with fewer commitments”. Before joining Magic, Williams had been a visible presence on TV1 for nearly 50 years.
Meanwhile, Ryan Bridge has officially been named host of the AM Show on TV3, after the departure of Duncan Garner last month.
Bridge has been filling in on the show for the past few weeks. Previously, he has hosted Magic Talk’s drive show along with reporting for RadioLive and Newshub. “I am really excited to be the new host of The AM Show,” said Bridge. There’s nothing quite like morning television – it’s live, largely unscripted and allows you to connect with everyday Kiwis as they get ready to take on the day.”
9.10am: NZ finishes 2020 Paralympics with 12 medals
New Zealand has wrapped its 2020 Paralympics campaign in 24th place on the table, pulling in 12 medals overall.
Of those, six were gold, along with three silvers and three bronze. All 12 of our medals came from either the pool or the athletics field, with swimmer Sophie Pascoe grabbing four alone.
According to Stuff, our overall medal haul was a big drop from the 21 in Rio. From all 14 Paralympic Games that New Zealand has attended, Tokyo would rate 9th equal based total medals.
8.30am: ‘Encouraging signs’ for alert level drop outside of Auckland
The South Island is waiting nervously to hear if it will be able to drop down to alert level two.
Cabinet is meeting today to decide whether the country (except Auckland) will remain at alert level three after the current set of restrictions expires tomorrow night.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB, deputy prime minister Grant Robertson would not pre-empt this afternoon’s announcement – but said there were positive signs. “It’s been an encouraging period of time, not only the fact that we haven’t seen cases outside of Auckland but that case numbers in Auckland appear to have come down on a trend,” he said. “All the signs are encouraging.”
The crucial “R rate” – the rate at which the outbreak is spreading – was now sitting around 0.6 to 0.8, said Robertson. That would suggest new case numbers will keep dropping rapidly.
On whether the 90-year-old woman who died from delta over the weekend had been vaccinated, Robertson said he did not know. However, he said that the woman could not be treated in the normal way, such as with ventilators.
7.55am: Hospital patient in shared room tests positive for Covid-19
A man who shared a room with three others on a surgical ward at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital has tested positive for Covid-19.
According to TVNZ, the man was admitted to the ward about 7am on Sunday and by 10.30am he was being tested due to his Covid symptoms. One of the three others in the room, a 91-year-old man, said he was “horrified”.
“I’m 91 – I’m an ill man and seriously at risk. It was so damned obvious when we saw him in the room,” he said, questioning why the man was allowed to remain on the ward while he waited for a test result.
“How did he get admitted into the Edmund Hillary block with three others let alone the fourth floor?” said the 91-year-old.
Deputy prime minister Grant Robertson has confirmed the positive case, saying the man entered hospital for an unrelated reason. All other patients on the ward will be tested and go into isolation, he said.
As always, the next official health update will come at 1pm.
7.30am: From The Bulletin
Here are some of today’s top stories from The Bulletin, our daily news wrap. Read more here.
Booster shots could be on hold overseas. Officials in the US and UK are now indicating that programmes for a third jab could be delayed or scaled back as new research comes in. Both countries had intended to start offering booster shots this month. As the The New York Times reports, the White House has been told that boosters might only be necessary in a very few cases and not for months. The head of the UK’s programme told The Guardian that it’s probably best to wait to see how the pandemic evolves before offering a third jab.
Comparing plans to tackle the housing crisis. House prices around the world have spiked during Covid-19. Business Insider looks at how the US, Canada and New Zealand are trying to return to housing affordability. In short: The Americans want to massively increase supply, Canada is targeting foreign speculators and New Zealand is placing a heavy burden on the reserve bank. The story gives an interesting sense of the scale of response from each country.
The quiet Greens. While National and Act have thrown themselves into opposition, offering up a long list of ways to fix what they think is broken, the Greens have all but vanished. Andrea Vance has written for Stuff about what’s happened. The party brought new activists into parliament just over a year ago who aren’t bound to supporting Labour. While they’ve poked around on rent freezes and Judith Collins, the party has shrunk into the background by choice. That could change. Look to Te Pāti Māori’s outspoken co-leaders for what could have been.
This is part of The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s must-read daily news wrap. To sign up for free, simply enter your email address below
Yesterday’s numbers
- There are 20 new community Covid-19 cases, all in Auckland.
- The delta outbreak now totals 801 cases.
- The number of people in hospital with Covid-19 is 38.
- 77,000 vaccine doses were administered on Saturday.
- See all the locations of interest using our interactive map.
Subscribe to The Bulletin to get all the day’s key news stories in five minutes – delivered every weekday at 7.30am.
Read More:Live updates, September 6: ‘Encouraging signs’ for alert level drop outside of Auckland – deputy PM
2021-09-06 01:18:45