27 May 2020

As it happened: Covid-19 updates from NZ and around the world

4:56 pm on 27 May 2020

As Covid-19 spreads around the world, it can be daunting keeping up with the information. For RNZ, our responsibility is to give you verified, up to the minute, trustworthy information to help you make decisions about your lives and your health. We'll also be asking questions of officials and decision makers about how they're responding to the virus. Our aim is to keep you informed.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the country is staying in level 2 to be certain that there is no further spread of Covid-19 and also to ensure border procedures are safe and secure.

However, he said the move to alert level 1 is being looked at.

He said he couldn't speak to Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' comments this morning that the country should be in alert level 1 already.

"What I can say is that we are working very hard on what level 1 will look like, and also separately working very hard with a whole range of players ... on what a trans-Tasman bubble will look like and that requires having confidence in the arrangements on both sides of the Tasman.

"What our job is, is to provide really good advice ... to help make sure there is no risk of transmission between countries."

Follow the rest of the day's Covid-19 developments with RNZ's blog:

  • 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 - don't show up at a medical centre

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