New Zealand Cabinet to review Covid configurations next week – as it happened | World News

This blog is now closed. You can read more about Jacinda Ardern’s coronavirus blocking decision here, and today’s report on earthquakes and tsunamis here. Thanks for reading

America’s Cup matches will resume on Wednesday, while cricket, netball and rugby can finally put tickets on sale for their big events on Sunday, reports Stuff.

Ardern says he felt “absolutely” the first earthquake. Her first thought was “Screw it,” she says.

Kiri Allan he adds: “She sent me a text message to make sure I was doing my job. 02:29! “

Minister of emergency management Kiri Allan is back to talk about the response to the tsunami. She says that the call to cancel the alert was made when it became clear that “there was no more risk of life”.

She is facing doubts about the notification system, specifically the civil defense text alerts sent to people’s phones. They were received by thousands of people at different times, but Allan says it is not yet known if this could have been improved.

“These are strictly targeted and have been targeted, again, based on the science available to those who were most at risk of losing their lives. This was not meant to be a carte blanche notification for everyone. “

She says she is very pleased that people knew what to do as a result of the overall management strategy, but that the government would be “looking to test the system in the next few days”.

She and the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern recognize that the first two of the three earthquakes were “disconnected”, one recording on the east coast of the North Island and the other near the Kermadec Islands – requiring different responses.

Allan said there were no reports of significant or worrying damage as a result of the earthquakes. Now that the alert has been canceled, government teams can examine it more closely, she says.

Ardern says it was the right decision to lift the three-day blockade in Auckland in early February, before reinstating level three restrictions later in the month.

Ardern is asked whether she will apologize to Case L, a coronavirus case that says she was not instructed to isolate herself by the government and that Ardern’s comments about her case led to her being bullied on social media.

Ardern now says (as she said before) that she will not apologize, but that it was never her intention to create a loot.

Another exception: on Sunday, religious services can continue with less than 100 participants.

Ardern interrupts Bloomfield’s questioning about invoking the Health Act to say that the requirements of New Zealanders under his response to the coronavirus “are generally very well understood.”

She says she does not believe that anyone who broke level three restrictions does what is wrong, and that she saw no benefit in continuing to “come and go” in individual cases last week.

Ardern adds that there have always been violations of the New Zealand blockade. “In general, the country has done exceptionally well – but we have never had a perfect experience.”

There are some exceptions to the increase in restriction levels, says director general of health Ashley Bloomfield.

People who attended the City Fitness academy (the site of the most recent significant exhibition event a week ago) and those who were informed by Auckland’s regional public health teams that they are a casual-plus, close or casual contact for a confirmed case .

These people are obliged to isolate themselves in their usual homes, to present themselves and undergo medical examinations at the time and place specified by a health officer, and to remain isolated until they receive more information.

Bloomfield clarifies that this is a “specific legal requirement”, forcing these individuals under section 70 of the Health Act.

Ardern: “We may not be in the devastating position that much of the rest of the world is in, but an elimination strategy can still seem like hard work. It is completely natural to feel tired. Covid is hard work for everyone. Thank you for moving forward one more time. “

Ardern says the government’s response was overly cautious, given the unpredictable and highly transmissible nature of the coronavirus variant in the UK.

“Level three provided us with an extra layer of security while addressing the unknowns and reducing the risk.”

Auckland will go to level two at 6 am on Sunday. The rest of the country will go to level one at the same time.

Jacinda Ardern begins by pointing to case numbers in France and elsewhere abroad: “I know that here in New Zealand we don’t take anything for granted, not least because many of us know people or we have people we love abroad.”

She says she accepts that New Zealand’s elimination strategy is difficult for people, from losing jobs to canceling school camps. “Covid has hurt many in many ways – but it will improve.”

She says she will launch a “roadmap” in the coming weeks, showing how the implementation of the immunization will affect Covid de Aotearoa’s response next year.

Kiri Allan says that the civil defense response to the threat of a tsunami was underway before dawn: “I want to thank all those who did exactly the right thing”.

Jacinda Ardern: “It is hard not to feel that our country is experiencing a wave of bad luck, when you have an earthquake, tsunami and a pandemic to face in one day …

“We have had our fair share of difficult times in this country, but within that we have always been blessed with incredible people who work on our emergency response system.”

Ardern praises the work of the Minister of Emergency Management Kiri Allan and passes it on for an update.

General Director of Health Ashley Bloomfield will provide an update on Covid-19’s response later.