Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on Oct. 4, 2021. New Zealand's government has acknowledged what most other countries did long ago: it can no longer completely get rid of the coronavirus. Mark Mitchell/AP hide caption

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses a press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, on Oct. 4, 2021. New Zealand's government has acknowledged what most other countries did long ago: it can no longer completely get rid of the coronavirus.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand New Zealand's government acknowledged Monday what most other countries did long ago: It can no longer completely get rid of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a cautious plan to ease lockdown restrictions in Auckland, despite an outbreak there that continues to simmer.

Since early in the pandemic, New Zealand had pursued an unusual zero-tolerance approach to the virus through strict lockdowns and aggressive contact tracing.

Until recently, that elimination strategy had worked remarkably well for the country of 5 million, which has reported just 27 virus deaths.

While other nations faced rising death tolls and disrupted lives, New Zealanders went back to workplaces, school yards and sports stadiums safe from any community spread.

But that all changed when the more contagious delta variant somehow escaped from a quarantine facility in August after it was brought into the country from a traveler returning from Australia.

Despite New Zealand going into the strictest form of lockdown after just a single local case was detected, it ultimately wasn't enough to crush the outbreak entirely.

One factor may have been that the disease spread among some groups that are typically more wary of authorities, including gang members and homeless people living in transitional housing.

The outbreak has grown to more than 1,300 cases, with 29 more detected on Monday. A few cases have been found outside of Auckland.

Ardern said that seven weeks of lockdown restrictions in Auckland had helped keep the outbreak under control.

"For this outbreak, it's clear that long periods of heavy restrictions has not got us to zero cases," Ardern said. "But that is OK. Elimination was important because we didn't have vaccines. Now we do, so we can begin to change the way we do things."

New Zealand began its vaccination campaign slowly compared to most other developed nations. Rates rocketed in August after the outbreak began but have dropped off significantly again since then.

About 65% of New Zealanders have had at least one dose and 40% are fully vaccinated. Among people age 12 and older, about 79% have had at least a single jab.

Under Ardern's plan that starts Tuesday, Aucklanders will be able to meet outdoors with loved ones from one other household, early childhood centers will reopen and people will be able to go to the beach.

The dates for a phased reopening of retail stores and later bars and restaurants have yet to be decided.

Ardern said the elimination strategy had served the country incredibly well but the government always intended to eventually transition to the protection of vaccines, a change hastened by the delta variant "game changer."

The government's elimination approach had been broadly supported by New Zealanders but was facing increasing criticism. Over the weekend, hundreds of people turned out to rallies protesting the lockdown.

Opposition lawmaker Chris Bishop said the government had no clear strategy to deal with the outbreak other than total surrender.

But Ardern said that most measures would remain in place to keep the outbreak under control, including exhaustive contact tracing and isolating those who got infected.

"There's good cause for us to feel optimistic about the future," Ardern said. "But we cannot rush."

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New Zealand acknowledges it can no longer completely get ...

For eight months of this year, New Zealanders were so rude or lucky, depending on whether you live inside or outside New Zealand as to ignore everything that was happening across the world. Delta was washing over Europe in waves, confining much of the continent to their homes and neighbourhoods. Joe Biden was struggling to implement his progressive agenda, crashing against a Republican wall of legislative and judicial obstruction. It was a reminder for Americans and the world that the Trump era wasnt a brief, violent blip a temporary interruption to the second American century - but perhaps a permanent feature of their democracy. In Australia, a continent sitting pretty for much of the year, the virus let rip in New South Wales and Victoria, sending Melbourne into one of the worlds longest lockdowns.

For New Zealanders, this was a very distant, and foreign, problem. In April 50,000 New Zealanders packed out Six60s gig at Eden Park. That moment, a reminder to the rest of the world that at least one country was living as if Covid never happened, went viral. Tributes were made to the genius of prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, whose tough measures against the virus in March 2020 meant that New Zealanders enjoyed a year more or less like any other. We worked from our offices. We ate out. Our children went to school. We went to birthday parties and funerals and all manner of mass gatherings without the virus threatening to spread at any given moment. We were on top of the world.

Until, of course, we werent. Delta breached the border. First in Auckland, and then Northland and the Waikato, and now most other parts of the country. Ardern and her cabinet re-imposed the tough measures that worked so well in 2020. But Delta was different, and this time around the country never quite returned to zero cases. And yet life is returning to a version close to what we were enjoying in April. The virus is only circulating at a low level with more than 90% of the country double-jabbed, one of the highest vaccine rates in the world. Daily cases are even beginning to dip below 100, tantalisingly close to returning the country to elimination. The governments traffic-light system promises to restore most of our pre-viral freedoms.

But among these upheavals ratcheting from one of the countrys with the least restrictions to, albeit briefly, one of the countrys with the most restrictions it was easy to miss other seismic changes happening in New Zealand society. Women maintained their grip on the three highest offices in the land the governor-general, prime minister, and chief justice are women. Thats a return to the status quo from the 2000s when Dame Sylvia Cartwright, Helen Clark, and Dame Sian Elias occupied the three offices of state. This isnt meant to overstate New Zealand as a feminist paradise Mori and Pacific women still earn far less than white men when doing the same job but it does highlight a legacy the country, as the first in the world in which to grant women the vote, is conscious of.

Other progressive (or perhaps overdue) changes were also happening with te reo Mori taking its rightful place as a language of public life. Lorde released an EP entirely in Mori adding to a growing body of work that includes former Australian Idol Stan Walker and Ngti Awa vocal queen Maisey Rika. Interestingly, public opinion was shifting with these musical milestones too. In one poll 41% of New Zealanders supported a national name change to either the dual Mori-English Aotearoa New Zealand or simply the Mori Aotearoa. Even 10 years ago that level of support was unthinkable, and it reinforced a lesson that former National party leader Judith Collins learned the hard way: casting Mori as a national bogeyman no longer works.

In the 2000s Nationals attacks against Mori and Mori interests saw its poll numbers almost double overnight. But in 2021 Collinss poll numbers crashed. Few New Zealanders were convinced that the governments He Puapua report was a blueprint for a Mori takeover. In fact, more New Zealanders were inclined to celebrate Mori success, from film-maker Taika Waititi to Olympian Lisa Carrington. But in this strange year even those successes like Carrington becoming New Zealands most decorated Olympian feel like milestones from another, different year. In 2021 there is before-Delta life. All the normal things that happened before August. And then theres post-Delta life. All the abnormal things that happened after New Zealand caught up with the rest of the world.

In 2022, as life possibly returns to what we might consider normal, hopefully our sense of time is restored too.

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From Covid-free to Delta and back: New Zealands year of living (almost) normally - The Guardian

A St. Cloud natives love of hockey and science led him to become a rapper at the forefront of the pandemic on the other side of the planet.

Somewhere in the heart of Auckland, New Zealand, a man in a long white coat and brightly colored pants begins to rap.

"Vaccines! Just a little jab. Don't worry mate, it's not that bad.

Small price to pay for proven protection that can save your ass from COVID infection.

That's the opening of Vax the Nation by Dr. J., aka Joel Rindelaub. He really is a doctor, with a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry.

On closer inspection, viewers watching the song's video see hes wearing what looks suspiciously like a pair of Vikings zebra-print Zubaz pants. Rindelaub also sports a thick mustache and a striking mullet.

Vax the nation! Vax, vax the nation, he continues.

The hockey hair is part of RindelaubsMinnesota heritage. He grew up in St. Cloud, then went to Gustavus Adolphus for his Bachelor of Science, before heading east for his doctorate.

A chance to play pro hockey took him to New Zealand, where he stuck around.These days, Rindelaub is a research fellow at the University of Auckland and, as an expert on aerosols, has become a regular on television explaining how COVID spreads.

"I try to relay the message the best I can. So that might be going on TV to tell people to cover their face holes, so we're not spitting microdroplets in each other's mouths, he said.

Rindelaubs blunt explanations, using terms such as face hole, and frankly the mullet have made him a pandemic TV darling in New Zealand, where vaccination campaigns have been very successful.

"For the entire country, we're sitting at 94 percent of the eligible population with at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine," he said.

These kinds of numbers would make U.S. public health officials happy right now, but in New Zealand they are seen as a challenge and Rindelaub is part of the effort to convince the last six percent to get a shot. So he wrote a rap and enlisted Randa, one of New Zealand's top hip hop stars, to join the effort.

Rindelaub also pulled in some scientific muscle with other guest vocalists.

"We have the Prime Minister's chief science advisor. We have the 2021 New Zealander of the Year, Professor Siouxsie Wiles," he said.

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Politicians joined in too.

"This would be like the equivalent if I were in the states, if I got like Eminem to do a rap video with Dr. Fauci, the surgeon general, AOC, and Mitch McConnell all at once," Rindelaub said. "Seeing some of these science nerds actually get out there and try to spit a few lines was a bit cringe but fun at the same time. And it just kind of shows their dedication to the message of vaccines, to make themselves look so stupid on camera.

Playing the whole song on the radio unbleeped in the U.S. might well result in an FCC fine. It contains some strong language about the importance of getting vaccinated and frankly debunks misinformation about vaccine side effects in men.

In New Zealand, however, Rindelaub says broadcasting Vax the Nation hasn't been a problem.

"This was picked up by basically every major news source here in New Zealand, as well as getting radio plays, he said. We have I guess, different standards when it comes to some of the language."

Rindelaub said its a way of getting the message across to that final six percent of vaccine holdouts.

He also said it's too early to tell how successful "Vax the Nation" has been. But he is considering a follow-up a B-side as part of his effort to find better ways to communicate science to the masses.

You can watch the Vax the Nation music video on YouTube, but like we said, be aware theres some obscene language.

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Meet the Minnesotan who went to New Zealand to play hockey and is now a COVID TV star - MPR News

Slice of Heaven is now one of the most played songs on NZ radio but, at the time of its release, popular stations in New Zealand wouldn't play it. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

By Yadana Saw for RNZ

Slice of Heaven was written for a soundtrack but it spent eight weeks at number one in the New Zealand charts and four weeks at number one in Australia.

Dave Dobbyn wrote the song in 1986 for New Zealand's first ever animated feature film Footrot Flats A Dog's Tale based on the popular comic strip by Murray Ball.

It was a song made in two days, rejected by radio and unseen on TV.

This is the story of how Slice of Heaven was a most unlikely underdog.

It all started with the Footrot Flats cartoon, which Audioculture's Chris Bourke said was incredibly well loved.

"It was the perfect mix of people, you had Murray Ball, Tom Scott writing the script and Dave Dobbyn writing the music."

Film producer John Barnett whose list of credits include Sione's Wedding, Whale Rider, Shortland Street and Outrageous Fortune said at the time making a film of Footrot Flats was a risky proposition.

"The Film Commission were not that keen to support it because there was a view there that an animated film was not a proper film."

So Barnett said they raised the money privately and told everyone it would be a risk. Fay Richwhite and their investors went out and raised a couple of million dollars, he said.

17 Dec, 2021 10:00 AMQuick Read

9 Dec, 2021 04:22 AMQuick Read

Barnett said Dave Dobbyn was his first choice for writing the soundtrack.

"I felt that we needed a soundtrack that spoke to a younger audience."

In the 1980s Dobbyn was in the successful band DD Smash which had just broken up.

Dobbyn said after that the Footrot Flats project was his only source of income at the time.

"It was a real relief you know to be able to do something where you're just being creative all day long, sitting in a little room, staring at a tiny little LED screen, making sounds and making loops and trying to find noises that would suit the character."

Dobbyn said prior to that he had "zilch" experience in creating film soundtracks.

But he said he did attend a short part-time course at the Australian Film Institute in Sydney on scoring for film.

"I learnt from that what Bernard Hermann did with instruments in the Vertigo soundtrack - used a lot of trombones, there were some dangerous suspense sounds and all this and so your head goes into that space and then I just got playful with it."

One year into the Footrot Flats project Dobbyn went on a tour of New Zealand with his new band The Stone People.

Chris Bourke, who was then editor of music magazine Rip It Up, joined the tour as an embedded reporter and was travelling in the van with Dobbyn who gave him an early demo version of Slice of Heaven.

Bourke said he remembers it being "unusual and rootsy".

"Well I can't pretend that I thought it would be a number one hit for eight weeks, it was so raw and the conditions were so up against it - you know the back of the van, the walkman and this is a recording on very primitive computer equipment."

Dobbyn says a machine called the Emulator II played an integral part in the song.

"It was just fantastic, it was one of the early samplers but it's much sought after these days and you load this disk into and it said 'this will take a while' on a tiny screen and it did take a while for the sounds to you know power up.

"You can output sounds, you can sample sounds onto it, you can combine samples, you can do sequences, you can do everything a work station does except in a really organic way."

Dobbyn said things just sound good on the Emulator II and he had a library of audio sounds from around the world which was perfect for a cartoon.

"So I was just goofing around on that machine whereby you can have a rhythm, build up a rhythm and then you build up a bass line, build up some other things like strings and other noises and stuff - so I was having a ball on that thing."

Slice of Heaven was mostly built up on the Emulator II, but Dobbyn did lay down some guitar licks which he later realised unintentionally sounded very similar to the Rolling Stones song She's So Cold.

"I've always played like Keith [Richards] anyway so maybe it's just a reference to it."

Dobbyn said the phrase 'slice of heaven' seemed to be in the vernacular anyway.

"It's about as superlative a line as a Kiwi could muster in those days."

He was very taken with the male harmonies on Paul Simon's Graceland album and Slice of Heaven also lent itself to a group of male voices.

"And then I thought that Herbs could do the honours and sing some classic Mori harmonies, it was a very attractive notion and they said yes straight away."

The timeframe for the production of the Footrot Flats film was very tight.

For the music team led by Dobbyn and producer Bruce Lynch that meant recording and mixing Slice of Heaven at Marmalade Studios in Wellington in two and a half days so that a movie trailer would be ready to show in cinemas.

Nigel Stone was Marmalade Studio's head engineer at the time and said he remembers the two of them walking in with an Emulator II and Dave's guitar and that was it.

Stone said on day two, all the music was laid down and they were ready for Herbs to come in.

Stone said it can be a little awkward asking people to contribute something major if they are not the artist involved, plus the musicians didn't know each other very well.

But he said they walked away from Slice of Heaven "with an extraordinarily solid relationship".

Dobbyn said as soon as they started singing he knew that Herbs brought the right sound to the track.

"I think that's the magic of Herbs, it's the magic of a lot of Mori and Pasifika singing is you can't really identify the harmonies because people just find them where ever they want - the corporate effect is fantastic."

The pressured deadline was met and at the end of two and a half days a song and a movie trailer were ready to go.

'Put this on radio and it will go off' - Dobbyn

Dobbyn said he felt very optimistic about Slice of Heaven's chances.

"I said this is the one, you put this on the radio and it will go off, I just knew that it was too hooky to be ignored and that's a really strong feeling when you know you've discovered something that's bigger than you are."

But Dobbyn's manager Roger King said despite the fact they thought the song had huge potential nobody in radio did.

"People in radio wouldn't play it and New Zealand radio, the popular stations in New Zealand at the time wouldn't play the song, almost until it was number one on their charts."

King said the first radio station to call him and say "this is a massive song" was in Madison Wisconsin in the United States.

"Someone rang and it was a DJ from a radio station in Madison Wisconsin and he said are you aware that Slice of Heaven is the number one song in Madison right now and it's never been released.

"Somebody brought it back from Sydney and handed it to the radio station and they've just been playing it endlessly."

Dobbyn said trying to get past New Zealand radio programmers in the mid-1980s was extremely hard work as there was a misconception that New Zealand music was not good enough.

Dobbyn's manager Roger King puts the song's success down to the fact that "it's a feel good song ... it's an uplifting song."

Bourke said its hook lines mean that everyone can sing along.

'It's such an outlier it's such an unusual song, you know it's got this very strange rhythm, a mix of pub rock and a bit of reggae, it's got the wooden flute instrument and I think its uniqueness is what made it a hit."

In 2020 Dobbyn recorded Hine Ruhi, a te reo Mori version of Slice of Heaven with Hana Mereraiha.

Dobbyn said Mereraiha's translation of the song was amazing and "her phrasing fit the music amazingly".

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Dave Dobbyn's Slice of Heaven: The true story behind New Zealand's unofficial anthem - New Zealand Herald

It is periodically dangerous. While not prone to lava tantrums, its caldera lake is a regular source of lahars torrents of water, mud and rocky debris, propelled downhill by volcanic activity below the surface, and extremely destructive. Ruapehu was responsible for one of the most shocking accidents in New Zealands history the Tangiwai Disaster of 1953, where a lahar, pouring south from the mountains rooftop, ripped away a support pillar to a bridge over the River Whangaehu minutes before an express train was due to speed over it. The crash killed 151 passengers.

Care had to be taken with so pristine a setting. This was not always the case. In December 2005, earthwork contractors were hired to remove from Ruapehus flank all evidence of a production legacy that locals had come to refer to as Orc Road. Other ingrained marks were more desirable. Elsewhere on the North Island, 30 miles from Hamilton, the set created for Hobbiton survives as a bona fide attraction. Intended to be temporary, it was expanded in time for Jackson to start filming his Hobbit trilogy in 2011. Tourists can explore a cinematic echo (hobbitontours.com) with 44 hobbit holes; a site that, as the first thing on camera in the whole Lord of the Rings series, had to be convincing. I knew Hobbiton needed to be warm, comfortable and feel lived in, Jackson later explained. By letting weeds grow up through the cracks, and establishing hedges and little gardens a year before filming, we ended up with an incredibly real place and not just a film set.

Ultimately, though, the success of The Lord of the Rings is built on New Zealands beauty. And versatility. It is capable of pastoral calm and rustic loveliness befitting the hobbits home, Shire. It also has a flair for threat and fiery menace in its most rugged extremities.

The brief exchange between Frodo and king-in-exile Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) still disguised as the horseman Strider as the Fellowship sets off east to Rivendell, says it all.

Where are you taking us? the hobbit asks nervously. Into the wild, comes the answer.

For all its tectonic grumpiness, Mount Ruapehu is one of New Zealands best options for aday on the slopes. In fact, thevolcano is home to threedistinct ski resorts. Whakapapa, on its north flank (mtruapehu.com/whakapapa), has 67 pistes as well as Happy Valley, aseparate area where beginners can take lessons. Turoa (mtruapehu.com/turoa), on the south-west side, offers challenging runs on its upper areas. Tukino (tukino.org), on the east face, is the smallest of the three but is often the least crowded. The season tends to last from June to October. This fits with the 13-night North Island Classic road trip sold by Discover The World (01737 214250; discover-the-world.com), which can be taken year-round from 2,430 per person (with flights). Local specialist Ski New Zealand (00 64 3443 0812; skinewzealand.co.nz) offers a five-day Ruapehu ski break from 525 per person.

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The fascinating story behind 'hobbit tourism' in New Zealand - Telegraph.co.uk

ATR delivered its 1,600th aircraft this month. The Franco-Italian turboprop powerhouse announced yesterday that Air New Zealand was the lucky milestone customer. This move occurred as the manufacturer celebrated 40 years of operations.

The delivery was the last of 29 ATR 72-600s ordered by the flag carrier of New Zealand. The unit holds registration ZK-MZF, and it has been making an around-the-world trip over the last few weeks.

According to RadarBox.com, the aircraft left Toulouse on December 5th before stopping at several destinations. The likes of Heraklion, Riyadh, Muscat, Mal, Subang, Denpasar, Darwin, Brisbane, and Auckland all saw the turboprop. It then performed Flight ANZ977M from Auckland to Christchurch on December 15th.

Air New Zealands Chief Executive Greg Foran shared how excited his airline is about receiving the milestone aircraft. The carrier has been holding the ATR 72-600 for nearly ten years, helping it to increase the operators local presence significantly.

We really value our longstanding relationship with ATR and this will be the 29th to join our fleet since 2012. During that time the fleet of ATRs have boosted the airlines regional network by over 50 per cent and they have proven extremely efficient. Our ATRs have helped us build one of the best domestic networks in the world and have flown an estimated 33.5 million passengers on more than 636,000 flights around New Zealand. Greg Foran, via company statement.

ATR CEO Stefano Bortoli added that his company is proud of the 1,600th delivery. He noted his staffs dedication and efforts over the last 40 years and how well ATR planes support the New Zealand population in staying connected even during tough conditions.

An aircraft needs to be efficient and versatile to thrive in New Zealand, so it makes perfect sense to build a fleet of turboprops. And while today there are many ATRs in New Zealand, there is now also an important part of New Zealand in many ATRs, thanks to their input into the RNP AR 0.3/0.3 approach technology. Meaning that operators all over the world can benefit from yet another innovative product evolution. Stefano Bortoli.

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ATR has been making notable strides in recent months, especially at the Dubai Airshow, where it saw plenty of attention. The ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 have seen new orders from all across the globe. This year, the likes of Sky Express, Tarom, Binter Canaries, Air Corsica, Afrijet, and Japan Air Commuter placed orders for the companys aircraft.

Regional planes will continue to remain an integral part of Air New Zealands strategy in the long term. The carrier has eyes on becoming a leader in electric aircraft in the next chapter of aviation. It seeks to have electric vehicles in its fleet by the end of the decade. With electric power currently being slated to handle short-haul travel while other solutions such as sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen set to overhaul long-haul, we can expect the operators regional fleet to be shaken up within the coming decades.

ATR has been working closely with partners on electric solutions in recent years. For instance, last month, ASL Aviation signed a deal with ZeroAvia for the conversion of ATR 72 freighters to hydrogen-electric power. So, we could see the relationship with Air New Zealand and ATR continue in future generations.

What are your thoughts about Air New Zealand taking delivery of the 1,600th ATR aircraft? What do you make of the airlines operations with the type? Let us know what you think of the carrier and its services in the comment section.

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Air New Zealand Takes Delivery Of ATRs 1600th Aircraft - Simple Flying

Experts warn of Omicron boom, focus again turns on MIQ and a tragic plane crash in Brisbane in the latest NZ Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald

As New Zealanders prepare for their bach getaways and Aucklanders start to leave the region, a new Covid-19 variant is spreading across the world.

Here is everything you need to know about Omicron.

Omicron is currently present in over 60 countries, having first been reported in mid-November. The B.1.1.529 variant, otherwise known as Omicron, was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) by South Africa on November 24, 2021.

But the new Covid-19 variant was initially detected in four foreign nationals who entered Botswana on November 7, 2021.

Scientists in South Africa raised the alarm due to a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in the country's Gauteng province, which they suspected were being driven by the new variant they'd identified, The New Yorker reported.

Just a couple of days after, the WHO's Technical Advisory Group named the new variant Omicron and classified it a variant of concern.

On Sunday, five further cases of Omicron were detected in international arrivals, taking New Zealand's total to 13 cases. Of the five cases, four remain in managed isolation, while one has now recovered and been released.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the recovered case arrived from London via Singapore on December 7.

"This case tested positive to Covid-19 at day 0/1 and was accordingly closely managed in MIQ. They were never in the community while infectious."

As an extra precaution, 30 other passengers on their flight have been regarded as close contacts. 27 of these passengers have completed day 9 tests and returned negative results.

"Health and MIQ teams have been carefully planning for Omicron cases at the border and will continue to manage all arrivals cautiously. This includes isolation and testing requirements for all new arrivals, robust infection and prevention control and PPE measures at airports and MIQ facilities, and frequent surveillance testing of staff who have any contact with recent international returnees," the Ministry of Health said.

The first detected case of Omicron in New Zealand was announced on Thursday.

The Omicron case flew into New Zealand flew from Germany, via Dubai, on December 10 and is double vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine.

The person with Omicron is now staying in a special quarantine wing at the Sudima Christchurch Airport MIQ facility.

The first Omicron case arrived in Auckland from Germany via Dubai on December 10 and flew to an MIQ in Christchurch on an aircraft chartered for international arrivals

Two other passengers on the international flight withNew Zealand's first Omicron casehave since tested positive

Another Omicron case travelled from London via Dubai on December 11 and was transported to a Rotorua MIQ on a bus chartered for international arrivals

A case travelled from Spain via the same Dubai flight and was transported to a Rotorua MIQ

A third traveller on the Dubai flight tested positive and originally travelled from Nigeria. That person was transported to a Rotorua MIQ

A case announced on Saturday case travelled on a flight from Singapore to Auckland on 13 December

Another was on a flight from Singapore to Christchurch on 15 December

A recovered case announced on Sunday arrived from London via Singapore on 7 December.

The flight details of four Omicron cases are yet to be released by the Ministry of Health.

Passengers on flights with Omicron cases are now required to complete all 10 days at an MIQ facility, rather than spending the final three days in self-isolation. As the variant continues to spread across multiple Australian states, there are new questions about the Government's plan to begin re-opening the New Zealand border in January.

Dr David Welch said Omicron is globally the fastest spreading variant we have seen.

Countries like South Africa, Denmark and Australia are seeing large and rapid outbreaks where the doubling time for daily cases is about two to three days.

"All these countries where we are seeing rapid spread have high levels of immunity already, either by vaccination or due to previous widespread outbreaks."

Professor Mike Bunce said evidence to date suggest Omicron might have a more accurate key to our cells.

"This, coupled with its ability to dodge some antibodies, provides clues to why Omicron is causing a new wave of infection even in highly vaccinated countries like Denmark and the UK."

He said recent data suggests Omicron might be better at replicating in our upper airway (bronchus) than previous variants. Meaning it may aid in the spread of the virus from person to person.

Australia recorded its first cases of Omicron last month - two people who flew into Sydney from southern Africa on November 27 were infected with the strain.

Since then, cases in New South Wales have risen with the state reporting a new record-high number of daily Covid-19 cases on Sunday.

There were 2566 infections confirmed on Sunday, with NSW Health saying it's likely the majority of Sunday's cases are the Omicron variant.

Meanwhile, Victoria reported 1240 new cases on Sunday - the state has a total of 24 Omicron cases. Experts are warning Queensland will soon follow, with the state recording its first Omicron cases earlier this week.

Christmas revellers across Europe are lying low and US officials are intensifying calls for unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated in the face of the new Omicron variant, which threatens to wipe out a second holiday season that many hoped would bail out pandemic-battered industries.

In the United States, President Joe Biden's administration resisted tightening any restrictions, but also sketched out dire scenarios for the unvaccinated in a plea for hesitant Americans to get the shot.

Several European countries are warily watching the spread of Omicron. On Friday, Denmark decided to close theatres, concert halls, amusement parks and museums in response to a rapid rise in virus cases. In Spain, friends and classmates cancelled traditional year-end dinners.

Concerns about Omicron were especially palpable in Britain, which reported record numbers of infections three days in a row this week, the latest on Friday with more than 93,000 cases tallied.

While early studies suggest the Omicron variant may be able to bypass some of the antibody immunity brought about by the Pfizer vaccine, researchers are confident that the jab offers reasonable protection against severe disease.

The Immunisation Advisory Centre's medical director, Professor Nikki Turner, told the Herald this is a vital feature of an effective vaccine.

"This should continue to reassure us of the importance of continuing the heroic efforts of our vaccination programme to ensure as many of our population can access the vaccine as possible."

Moreover, studies suggested a third booster dose of the Pfizer shot may be able to stop Omicron in its tracks.

"A booster dose, or having previously had Covid, appears to be important in restoring much of the reduction in protection to the vaccine," Turner said.

"There is a question as to when the best timing of a booster dose will be, many countries are considering what the best timing for a booster dose would be, and that is a decision that New Zealand is also currently reviewing."

Earlier this week, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed that he had been given advice in the last couple of days on the time period between getting the second jab and the booster shot.

Currently, there is a six-month period between those two jabs.

He said the advice he has been given in recent days will be up for discussion among Government officials and ministers.

"It may be that a shorter interval will ensure that people do get that booster and increase to their protection at the right time in case we get Omicron in the country."

He expected there would be an announcement on bringing the booster shots forward before Christmas, but that was up to ministers to decide.

-Additional reporting by AP

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Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Everything you need to know about the new variant - New Zealand Herald

When New Zealand went into Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, on the other side of the world a West African nation of 17 million people did the same.

Today, the public health response in Senegal couldn't be further from the one in New Zealand, with one expat Kiwi saying its as though the virus never existed.

Former Cantabrian Robin McCone, 52, a now retired partner in a major global accounting network, is currently living in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and will continue to do so for at least the next five years.

Judging by the public health response in Senegal, it almost seemed like the Covid-19 pandemic had come and gone, he said.

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No-one is wearing a face mask. It is as if Covid never happened.

Senegal has had more than 74,000 Covid cases and 1800 deaths. About only 5.75 per cent of the countrys population has been fully vaccinated.

McCone visited his family in Canterbury for Christmas in 2019, and had just returned to Ghana for work when the pandemic hit. The response there was strict, even more so than New Zealand, and well-handled, he said.

However, it was almost impossible to get a vaccine in West Africa now if you were not a frontline worker, he said.

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McCone says his dog, Dorothy, was on her way to ending up on a menu before he rescued her.

According to McCone, people were not wearing masks at all, shops were running as they used to, and lockdowns and restrictions were a thing of the past.

McCone is double vaccinated, but it took calling upon the EU ministry of foreign affairs to get it done.

I had to move hell and home to get that vaccine.

He said the slow vaccination roll-out meant Covid-19 variants were circulating through communities, and international travellers were getting infected and returning home with the virus.

But in his new home city, Dakar, Covid-19 is exhibiting more as a seasonal flu, and he puts that down to the fitness, health and average age in Senegal.

Life expectancy in Senegal is 68.9 and the average age and the median 18.5. Compared with New Zealand's 81.7 and 37.4 respectively.

McCone said Covid-19 seemed to have a lesser impact on mortality rates in Dakar, but it was still a massive mistake for developed countries not to help provide vaccines to Senegal.

But despite the lack of Covid management, McCones intrepid nature attracted him to Senegal and its people.

Dakar is super safe and the Senegalese are some of the politest, friendliest folk weve met in West Africa.

Kiwis would love it here. You cant walk down any road without people saying Bonjour, a va?. Ive been looked at as a freak in many countries for being that friendly. Not here.

RNZ

RNZ's The Detail podcast explores the untapped trade potential for New Zealand which Africa offers.

McCone left New Zealand in 1996, and has lived and worked all over the world, including New York City, Georgia, Switzerland, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Central Asia.

He moved from Ghana to Senegal just a couple of weeks ago for an early retirement and to support his wifes career.

So far, retirement had largely consisted of surfing at a nearby beach, taking his longboard on trips down non-existent roads, and adopting stray animals as pets.

McCone said he saved his dog, Dorothy, from ending up on someones plate. Dorothy was going to be in the chop bar, she was on the menu. I saved her from being eaten.

Supplied

Robin McCone's wife and dog enjoy life in Senegal.

McCone said he loved the lifestyle Dakar provides, and ranked it among one of his favourite places in the world alongside Georgia in Europe, and Canterbury in Aotearoa.

He believed there was a lot of opportunity for expat Kiwis in Africa.

But watch out for Jollof a West African rice dish that McCone deemed to be awful, describing the taste as being like rice and coffee and shrimp.

The West Africans cant get enough of it. Nigerians and Ghanaians will fight who [invented] it, but it came from Senegal.

Read the rest here:

'As if Covid never happened': No restrictions and few vaccines, says Kiwi living in Senegal - Stuff.co.nz

New Zealands cities could be reshaped for decades to come, forcing the long-entrenched dream of the quarter-acre block to the margins, after the government joined forces with the opposition to pass sweeping legislation in favour of housing densification.

In a rare display of cross-party collaboration, Labour and National passed the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) bill a policy that aims to counter urban sprawl and boost supply by up to 105,000 new homes in the next eight years by forcing councils to loosen restrictions on building in urban areas.

The country has been in the midst of a housing crisis for more than a decade, driven by multiple factors including restrictive planning law, a lack of housing supply, an unchecked property investor market, and a widening gulf between income and housing costs.

Its large cities of Wellington and Auckland have some of the least affordable property markets in the world; home ownership rates in New Zealand have been falling since the early 1990s across all age brackets, but the drop is especially pronounced for people in their 20s and 30s.

Last year, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, Leilani Farha, visited New Zealand and called the housing situation a human rights crisis and a dark shadow that hangs over the country.

The OECD has ranked New Zealand top for unaffordable housing for its poorest families.

Planning law has long been criticised for being restrictive, unwieldy and slow. It is blamed in part for slowing down housing development, entrenching single-house dwellings, and creating urban sprawl, which has implications for transport, infrastructure and climate change.

Building a standard single-story house in New Zealand comes with a lot of paperwork, but trying to build a multi-storey or multi-dwelling development could tie someone up in regulatory battles for months or years, at great expense.

If an area is zoned as a single-family area, the standard residence is a single house with a garden. Anyone wanting to build multiple dwellings, or anything other than a standard house, requires consent from the local council. Councils can reject the application for a whole number of reasons, including, for example, an unhappy neighbour about to lose some sunlight.

The law will scrap some of those restrictions, forcing councils to allow up to three three-storey houses on most sites in the countrys major cities, without requiring consent. Building approvals will still be required.

There will be exemptions in areas where densification is inappropriate, such as where there is a high risk of natural hazards, or a site has heritage value.

The bill is paired with an acceleration of the governments national policy statement on urban development, which aims to further reduce constraints on urban planning and development. That will come into effect to August 2023, instead of August 2024.

Probably not.

Modelling by Price Waterhouse Cooper predicted the new rules could result in about 48,200 to 105,500 new homes being built in the next five to eight years across New Zealands major cities.

The national median price hit an eye-watering high in November up by 23.8% to $925,000, compared with $747,000 in November last year. The analysis suggests that an increase in supply from this policy could slow down the runaway prices but not cause them to drop. However, if the policy was not in place, the prices would continue to balloon.

Australia is facing its own housing affordability crisis, driven in part by record-low interest rates and an increase in household savings. Just 30% of the poorest 25-34 year-olds now own their homes, a 10% decrease since 1981. Grattan Institute program director Brendan Coates said restrictive zoning played a significant role in house prices in Sydney and Melbourne.

Research published by the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2018 found restrictive zoning contributed about 40% to the price of houses in the two major cities, and was even higher in wealthy councils including Willoughby, the Northern Beaches and Melbournes inner east.

The new legislation attacks one of the key impediments to greater density the structure of government which led to too few homes being built, Coates said.

It depends.

Coates said a similar approach to New Zealand could help solve Australias housing affordability crisis while boosting lagging productivity growth. Decisions about development approvals largely sit with local councils, he said. People who would like to live there cant vote, and their interests are left unrepresented.

Unsurprisingly, fewer homes are built than whats needed.

But research by urban planners Mark Limb and Cameron Murray published this year found repeated zoning changes designed to encourage urban infill didnt lead to cheaper housing. Instead, while the zoned capacity for housing at the locations doubled, the vast majority werent developed within five years, suggesting it was the market price, not planning regulations, that determined if and where development occurred.

I dont think its going to do anything in New Zealand, Murray said. People will certainly build apartments where they couldnt before but theyre not going to flood the market and crash prices.

This argument has been around since the 1960s weve blamed overregulation but if it was true rezoning would reduce house prices, property developers lobbying for it are the worst lobbyists ever or theyre lying.

Murray said the solution in Australia was to provide free government housing to people unable to enter the market. Rezoning isnt going to massively reduce prices just as they said in Australias housing supply inquiry, he said. Its become a religion, its a neat silver bullet.

Continue reading here:

New Zealand has adopted a radical rezoning plan to cut house prices could it work in Australia? - The Guardian

New Zealand has been too slow to use some of the technologies available, such as rapid antigen testing, Hope says.

Overseas, people are travelling more freely, with borders "very stop/start" due to variants.

"But for us it's been wholly stop," Hope says. "It hasn't started."

He's concerned the Omicron variant may push back plans to open the border to New Zealanders living in Australia in mid-January.

Many in the tourism sector have been "decimated" by the pandemic, and they desperately need the border to reopen, he says.

"So I do think, you know, as we kind of get further through the pandemic, we can both reduce risk, at the same time as enabling more cross border travel."

The self-isolation period should also be reduced to three days for low-risk countries, as we won't have an effective tourism sector with a week-long stand-down period, he says.

There are also massive people constraints. While businesses might have products and services and customers to buy them - they sometimes don't have the staff to operate.

"So part of my wish list is to get very clear about the skills that we need in New Zealand and for the government to be much, much more open about who we bring into New Zealand to help the economy grow.

"We must think about what our immigration policy looks like, in a way that enables businesses to meet what is very clear demand for goods and services, and that's been heavily constrained. It will impede us massively going forward."

While some businesses have gone "gangbusters" this year, the tourism sector and the hospitality and retail associated with it continue to suffer most - and that's why a smart border is so crucial, Hope says.

"So you know, there are many people who have lost their businesses. And that has been incredibly challenging over this two-year period, for people's livelihoods and mental health - and in a much more negative health way than perhaps if they'd caught Covid.

"Because it's so ongoing for many people and in some cases there's simply no way out. They just had to abandon their business and take another job."

While there was a lot of focus on wage subsidies and resurgence payments, there has been a lack of sector-specific support, Hope says.

"So my wish list is that the government wake up and actually understand and walk a few miles in those people's shoes. Because the ongoing health implications of losing your business are extremely severe. It will have long-term repercussions."

RNZ

Continued here:

COVID-19: What Business NZ chief executive Kirk Hope wants for Christmas - New Zealand to have 'smartest borders in the world' - Newshub