Jasmine Manwell dressed up in her hazmat suit to get tested for Covid-19. Photo / Supplied
The Bay of Plenty Times is looking back at the stories of 2020. This is what made headlines in April.
Tauranga's Matapihi community is the latest to ban public access in an effort to help protect vulnerable residents.
Signs saying "Matapihi residents only" were erected at both ends of the peninsula this week. The message is enforced by kaitiaki (guardian) Hayden Henry who has been patrolling the cordon.
"It is the worst illness I have ever experienced ... people need to take this seriously."
Severe migraines, a dry cough, intense fevers, debilitating body aches and a wheezy chest. These are just some of the symptoms Jasmine Manwell has endured as the Bay of Plenty's sixth person to be diagnosed with Covid-19.
Bay of Plenty people are spending more time at their workplaces and supermarkets than most other Kiwis in lockdown, Google Maps data shows.
Google data collected via people's devices, anonymously, mapped how busy certain locations have been before and after the New Zealand alert level 4 response to Covid 19.
A Pāpāmoa dairy is brightening essential workers' days by footing the bill for their supplies.
When an essential worker comes into Papamoa Super Seven, a popular Tauranga superette, in uniform, they do not walk with their wallets any lighter.
Drug and alcohol addictions are coming to the fore, social agencies say, as some unable to get their highs are becoming volatile.
While some people have sobered up, issues with violence, gangs and nasty withdrawals have shone a light on the grip addictions have on some of our most vulnerable.
Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell is calling for the immediate opening of small businesses to save thousands of jobs amid the Covid-19 lockdown.
In a statement today, Powell asked the Government to start the process of a staged move out of level 4 lockdown to "save jobs and livelihoods" in the city.
Bay of Plenty beauty salons have already lost thousands of dollars in cancelled appointments and accrued wait lists of up to a month long as demand for their services ramps up during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern laid out what level 3 restrictions would mean when they came into effect, potentially next week. While some businesses will be able to reopen, beauty salons will not.
Two Te Puke sisters have scraped up an $8000 reward for the safe return of their dog, which has been missing for nearly three months.
Dog trainer Mandy Wood took on her sister's blue-grey Staffy, Bolt, last year to socialise him with her dogs and train the two-year-old.
Western Bay councils have pitched $3 billion worth of growth projects for Government investment to offset the impact of Covid-19, the Bay of Plenty Times can reveal.
According to Tauranga City Council documents, on April 6 SmartGrowth submitted a package of "urban growth transformational projects" at the request of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Little Maizie Lewis' dream came true as her dad ensured she got her McDonald's drive-thru for her birthday, despite being in lockdown.
Unable to give her the real deal, dad Nathan Lewis didn't let lockdown stop him and got to work recreating the drive-thru experience for his youngest child.
Western Bay businesses have made rapid adaptions to their services to be able to reopen from today under strict alert level 3 rules.
For many, it will be the first non-Government revenue flowing into their coffers - via contactless payment, of course - in more than four weeks.
Patient 'absolutely disgusted' National didn't fund 13 cancer drugs as promised in 2023.