1820 days ago

Covid-19 Update: No new cases overnight

Caryn Wilkinson Reporter from Community News

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says there have been no new coronavirus cases overnight.

Bloomfield said he was looking for a run of days of zero community cases to inform a decision on moving alert levels.

Auckland is now in its third day of alert level 3 lockdown.

A 21-year-old (Case M) and his mother (Case N) tested positive for the virus during the weekend, prompting the snap lockdown.

Initially it was unclear how Case M caught the virus.

But on Monday Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced undisclosed contact between Case M's mother and another mum involved in Auckland's February cluster.

They had gone for a walk during the region’s level 3 lockdown earlier this month.

Bloomfield said authorities "couldn't take any chances" with alert levels given there were "quite a few exposure events" connected to Case M.

He said there had been high infection rates in the families connected to the cluster and some casual exposure.

“We want to make sure there is not more of those, and we stamp it out.”

Bloomfield said Auckland was only a few days in from when Case M was most infectious, so people would need to “wait and see” if there was any more cases linked to him.

Although he suspected Case M “was not having a good time of it” in terms of backlash over breaching the rules, he said a “punitive approach” could be “counter-productive”.

“We can’t afford to give this virus an inch.”

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More messages from your neighbours
5 days ago

Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

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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🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
  • 52.5% Human-centred experience and communication
    52.5% Complete
  • 14.7% Critical thinking
    14.7% Complete
  • 30.1% Resilience and adaptability
    30.1% Complete
  • 2.7% Other - I will share below!
    2.7% Complete
552 votes
22 hours ago

Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!

William Hansby Reporter from NZ Gardener & Get Growing

Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.

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7 hours ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

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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