Quarantine-free travel from New South Wales to New Zealand to pause
Ten new community cases of COVID-19 were announced on Tuesday in NSW, taking the Australian state's recent community cases linked to the cluster to 21. The pause came into force from 11:59pm on Tuesday and will be in place for 72 hours initially. This decision will be reviewed on Thursday. COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says this decision follows a public health assessment earlier on Tuesday which found that while the overall risk to public health in New Zealand is currently low, there are still several unknowns. This includes a case that was infectious while in the Sydney community and a primary school age child with no clear link established yet. Anyone who has only been in Norfolk Island and not in NSW is still eligible for quarantine-free travel.
New Zealand health officials are also updating health advice for anyone already in Aotearoa who has recently visited Sydney's Westfield Bondi Junction mall. It follows a new case of COVID-19 reported in Sydney on Tuesday that is connected to the busy mall. Anyone who was at this mall, including the car park, any time between June 12 and June 18 should contact Healthline on 0800 358 5453, get tested, and stay home until they get a negative test result, or remain isolated if told. NSW public health officials are continuing to add new locations of interest, and anyone who has been in Sydney since June 11 should check the NSW Health website. Anyone at locations of interest at the specified times should call Healthline on 0800 358 5453, get tested, and self-isolate until they return a negative result. Anyone who was at a location of interest at the specified times cannot travel to New Zealand within 14 days of the exposure event.
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Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
Want to read more? The Press has you covered!
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52.8% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.8% Critical thinking
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29.7% Resilience and adaptability
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2.8% Other - I will share below!
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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