Covid 19 coronavirus: What you need to know about Wednesday's big developments

As New Zealand records another day of no new coronavirus cases, Cabinet is confirmed to review the rules and restrictions currently in place at alert level 2. Get all the important news and read the full stories in the links below.

Key developments in NZ

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at today's media briefing. Photo / Pool

• Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government will consider increasing the maximum size of gatherings under alert level 2. As the country records another day of zero cases, the Cabinet will on Monday review current rules that cap at 10 the number of people allowed to gather in one group. The Government also has the option to further relax physical distancing rules, as it receives more Covid-19 data. Ardern said New Zealand would stay in level 2 until Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield advised it was time to move, but said the Government would continue to make "incremental" changes.

• A national cosmetics chain is now temperature checking every customer before allowing them inside as confusion swirls over which Covid-19 safety measures are necessary for retail shops, with Hospitality New Zealand calling for more clarity around the rules.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield at today's media briefing. Photo / Pool

Listen live to Newstalk ZB's coronavirus coverage

• Auckland DHB members have debated prioritising Māori and Pacific patients for some elective surgeries after chairman Pat Snedden said disruption from Covid-19 represents a "Big Bang" opportunity to reset an unfair health system.

• New Zealand's looming Covid-19 recession is forecast to produce a dramatic leap in student numbers at polytechnics and wānanga.

Business update

• New Zealand's biggest builder – Fletcher Building - says it plans to lay off around 1000 staff in New Zealand, equating to around 10 per cent of its workforce, and has slashed capital expenditure in response to Covid-19. Their chief executive explained why the jobs had to go.

• Air traffic controllers continue to highlight safety risks of Airways' plans to close air traffic control towers, while a pilots' group says airlines should be allowed to relax physical distancing on planes if all crew and passengers wear masks. This comes during a turbulent time for the airline industry, as more than 1300 cabin crew lose their jobs at Air New Zealand, and pressure mounts for airlines to pay refunds on all tickets and routes.

• KiwiSavers moved $1.4 billion into cash and conservative funds in March - a move which one provider says shows how people panicked during the peak of the markets crashing as the coronavirus spread.

Around the world

• A meeting of the World Health Organisation that was supposed to chart a path for the world to combat the coronavirus pandemic instead turned into a showcase for the escalating tensions between China and the United States over the virus.

• One month later after the lockdown ended in Wuhan, people are learning how to navigate life on the other side of the coronavirus crisis. Here are four of their stories.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

The last word

• Sir Stephen Tindall writes about the green, high tech opportunity New Zealand can't afford to miss in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.