The first weekend in alert level 3 is here. House parties were one of the many breaches reported this week and the government is warning New Zealanders to stick to their bubbles.
Photo: RNZ / Supplied
Today is the fourth day of the country being at alert level 3 which has allowed some people to return to work and school and restaurants and cafes to provide takeaways provided social distancing rules are maintained and payment is contactless.
There have been three new cases with no further deaths. Nationwide there are 1132 confirmed cases and 347 probable cases.
Today is the 13th day in a row that the increase in Covid-19 cases had been in single digits. The death toll stands at 19.
Six people are in hospital, and none are in intensive care.
There are still 16 significant clusters, but one cluster has not seen new cases in 28 days and will be closed.
Three hospital workers in Auckland who cared for people infected with the virus from St Margaret's Hospital and Rest Home have tested positive for the disease.
Family harm is on the rise as women find it harder to escape their abusers during Covid-19 restrictions.
Police figures comparing the week before the lockdown show a 22 percent increase in investigations. Mirroring the police figures are those from Women's Refuge, showing a 20 percent increase in calls related to domestic violence
Iwi-led checkpoints debate
Community checkpoints have garnered support from local councils, police and hundreds of volunteers determined to keep their communities safe - but they remain a polarising topic among some MPs.
Social justice advocate Julia Whaipooti said it was disappointing some MPs had used the community checkpoints as a ploy to score political points and undermine a successful movement led by Māori.
Simon Bridges questioned if the community checkpoints were legal. "It doesn't matter whether these checkpoints are operated by Māori or Pākehā, they are illegal."
Lobby group Hobson's Pledge has started a nationwide petition calling for the end of iwi-led "vigilante" checkpoints and has chosen a photo of the Murupara team to illustrate every social media post related to the topic.
The photo shows the checkpoint organiser flanked by a Mongrel Mob member and a Tribesman member, both in full gang regalia.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has repeatedly told MPs the checkpoints operating across the country are legal because police have authorised and helped to manage them.
- If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP
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More claiming benefit
About 6000 more people have ended up on the benefit in the past week, but the growth in numbers is beginning to slow.
New figures from the Ministry of Social Development show almost 342,000 people are receiving a benefit - just over 11 percent of the working-age population.
That was up 1 percent on the beginning of the year.
Most of the increase was people going on to the jobseeker benefit, bringing the total number of people receiving the main unemployment benefit to just over 180,000.
Mapping the spread of the virus in NZ
Genetic scientists mapping the spread of Covid-19 say that as few as 35 cases may have led to the outbreak here.
New Zealand's first Covid-19 case was reported on 28 February - a person in their 60s who had arrived from Iran.
One month later, the entire country was in lockdown.
ESR has been analysing virus samples to try to build a comprehensive picture of how it has spread through the country - and how it has mutated along the way.
Inmates locked in for longer hours
Women at an Auckland prison have been routinely confined to their cells for periods of up to 29 hours - well outside the law, which says they should get at least one hour out of their cells a day.
Normally prisoners spend about 16 hours a day in their cells although Corrections has admitted that extended hours have been used to ensure physical distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In one of the complaint forms a prisoner details being locked for 48 hours at a stretch between 22 March and 24 March.
Any longer than 22 hours a day meets the United Nations definition of solitary confinement, and the maximum allowed under the Corrections Act is 23 hours a day.
Work visa holders stuck overseas
Hundreds of work visa holders on overseas trips when the border closed say they are desperate to get back to their jobs and homes in New Zealand.
They continue to pay rent and all their belongings are left here.
They are lobbying the government to be allowed back following a spell in quarantine.
INZ said it had processed 5500 requests for exemptions to the border restriction.
