Coronavirus Covid-19: Minister of Finance and Director of Public Health to give update on cases

There are three new Covid-19 cases today as health officials launch a review into how hospital workers in Auckland were infected with coronavirus.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay are giving the daily briefing on the Covid-19 crisis.

One of today's three cases is linked to overseas travel and one to a known case.

The origin of another is still under investigation.

The new cases mean there's total of 1479 confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus in New Zealand since the pandemic began - 1,132 are confirmed cases and 347 are probable.

Six people are in hospital and none are in ICU.

McElnay said one of the clusters was now closed. Another would be closed today and a further six more would be closed in the next few days.

McElnay said that was "very encouraging" and clusters are closed if it's been more than 28 days since the last case was reported.

McElnay said it was "looking very good" but there were still cases being reported so people still needed to be cautious.

Waitemata DHB issued a media statement on 3 staff who have tested positive for Covid-19 - the staff worked on a ward where St Margaret's residents were being treated.

The source is still under investigation, full PPE was available and worn where the St Margaret's patients were and there will be a review of how the infection happened.

Asked why they were taking the word of Waitemata DHB that it was doing all it can to prevent infection, McElnay said she'd seen details of their investigation and testing and "they're investigating it thoroughly" and had been given assurances they were wearing full PPE.

The DHB had investigated where they were working and any contact they might have had with others and were still investigating any breaches in the PPE.

Weekend warning

Robertson said there have been 281 breaches of the alert level 3 rules, an increase of 27 since yesterday.

Robertson said most New Zealanders will doing the right thing and this was reflected by the number of people calling out others doing the wrong thing.

Robertson said there was an increase in reports of parties. For anyone planning a party, Robertson had two messages:

1) Cancel your plans now
2) Be aware police will be taking a "dim view" of this activity at the weekend.

"Don't be an idiot, stick to your bubble and everyone will be better off."

On people relieving themselves in sand dunes because the toilets were closed, Robertson said people needed to show a sense of responsibility around relieving themselves at the beach and the message is to stay close to your home, so keep that in mind.

On the West Coast wanting to leave alert level 3 sooner, Robertson said we needed to stay the course and "we're all in this together". He could understand their feelings, however.

Also the very first death was on the West Coast was a reminder of how deadly Covid-19 could be and how important it was everyone worked together.

Alert level 2 rules - what will be allowed?

The Government is looking at whether domestic tourism will be allowed under alert level 2 and Cabinet will make a decision in the coming week.

Cabinet is assessing what can and can't happen at alert level 2.

On the details about alert level 2, the guidance is being reviewed and details would be announced "in the very near future", Robertson said.

On the tangi which had more than 100 people at a tangi, Robertson said the rules were in place for good public health reasons. He said it was really disappointing the numbers blew out.

He urged people to stick to the rules though said he believed police would take a compassionate view to it.

Ashley Bloomfield's cult status

On a the "curve crusher" prints with Bloomfield's face on t-shirts and tote bags which have raised $50,000 for womens refuge, Robertson said we should be proud of the fact people came together to help others.

He was very conscious of the fact Bloomfield had become somewhat of a cult figure.

He hadn't seen the website himself yet and would have to make sure they had the right sized t-shirt before he placed an order.

$100k loans for Kiwi firms

Robertson said they were backing small and medium businesses with the interest-free loans because the Government knew how important they were to the economy.

But it came with a warning - Robertson said there would be an audit process led by IRD for businesses applying for the loans.

Robertson said taking together all the business support packages, they had provide significant support for businesses.

Robertson said the arts sector had taken a severe blow, like many other sectors, so the NZ international film festival will show its programme online.

Robertson said for small and medium businesses, many were backed by individuals personally which couldn't get the finance they needed

Robertson said he thought this kind of bespoke scheme delivered from the Government will give these SMEs the support they need.

Robertson earlier today announced the Government would offer interest-free loans for a year to small businesses hit by the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme will provide assistance of up to $100,000 to firms employing 50 or fewer fulltime equivalent employees.

Everyone who applied for the scheme has to declare they're a viable business and there would be an audit process later.

Applications will be initially open for a month, but this will be reviewed if needed.

There was a risk some of the businesses might not come through the debt, which would be factored in, Robertson said.

It was a balancing act, he said.

For businesses which had already taken a loan in the bank, Robertson said they should look at the scheme and assess their situation.

On winter energy payments, Robertson said doubling the energy payment would mean an increase in the economy as people who needed it would spend it.

A decision about universal basic income has not been made and Robertson said the Government was still considering all options.

On the large number of people receiving benefits, Robertson said it was "extremely distressing" for anyone who lost their job and had to go on the JobSeeker benefit and the Government had tried to mitigate that through the wage subsidy scheme.

There were just three new cases of Covid-19 yesterday – the 13th day in a row where the number of new cases has been in single digits.

There were no additional Covid-19 related deaths yesterday and 83 per cent of all confirmed cases have now recovered.

Robertson said in a statement today it had become clear the support available to small and medium businesses from banks was not meeting their needs nor the Government's expectations.

• The scheme will provide $10,000 to every firm and in addition $1800 per equivalent full time employee.
• Loans will be interest free if they are paid back within a year.
• The interest rate will be 3% for a maximum term of five years.
• Repayments are not required for the first two years

Robertson said the scheme was targeted at viable businesses which had been put in a position of not generating any revenue.

"These kinds of terms are not available anywhere else. We are committed to sharing the burden of the impacts of Covid-19.

"As a responsible Government we must ensure we are using taxpayer money carefully as we provide support for business."