Dawn chorus: Panic testing queues in Northland

Thousands queue for up to seven hours as Northland's Covid-19 tourist is found to have more infectious strain; Moderna warns its vaccine less effective against this strain; Australia closes NZ bubble

TLDR: Covid-19 testing sites in Whangarei and Mangawhai were overwhelmed yesterday as thousands of locals queued for hours for tests, worried they may have caught the South African strain identified in the Northland tourist who spent eight days visiting 30 sites around the region.

Meanwhile, Australia suspended quarantine-free travel arrangements with New Zealand for at least 72 hours and the National Party cancelled its caucus retreat in Whangarei next week and shifted it to Wellington. Cabinet meets for the first time in 2021 later today.

Overseas, Moderna warned its vaccine was generating a much lower antibody response to the South African strain and it was developing a new version in response. Also, Dominion Voting Systems sued Rudy Giuliani for US$1.3b over his dafamatory comments about election fraud.

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In our political economy

Stuff.co.nz Business @NZStuffBusiness

Public housing need 'set to surge' with tenancy reforms

dlvr.itPublic housing need ‘set to surge’ with tenancy reformsWait lists for public housing are already stretched to record levels but property professionals are warning the Government’s new tenancy laws will lead to more people joining the queue.

RNZ @radionz

The government is being urged to stop using any hotels with sub-par ventilation for managed isolation so it can prevent Covid spreading between unwitting guests.

rnz.co.nzExperts urge rethink on using isolation hotels with sub-par ventilationThe government is being urged to stop using any hotels with sub-par ventilation for managed isolation so it can prevent Covid spreading between unwitting guests.

RNZ @radionz

Talleys, Ernest Adams and Yoplait are among hundreds of manufacturers and brands dumping contaminants into New Zealand's drains and getting away with it.

rnz.co.nzRevealed: The companies dumping contaminants down the drainTalleys, Ernest Adams and Yoplait are among hundreds of manufacturers and brands dumping contaminants into New Zealand’s drains and getting away with it.

First Up @FirstUpRNZ

Councils are calling on the government to fix a loophole that allows companies to dump contaminated waste water down the drain without facing penalties. Mike Reid, from Local Government New Zealand talked with RNZ's Anusha Bradley

rnz.co.nzLocal Govt Act needs amendment to fix waste dumping<p>Councils are calling on the government to fix a loophole that allows companies to dump contaminated waste water down the drain without facing penalties. An RNZ investigation reveals at least 270 companies, including some of the country’s biggest manufacturers like Talley’s, AFFCO and McCains, hav…

In the global political economy

The Associated Press @AP

Moderna says its vaccine protects against variants of the coronavirus but it's testing a booster dose against the strain discovered in South Africa. The company says preliminary tests suggest its vaccine produced a weaker immune response to that variant.

apne.wsThe Latest: UK reports lowest daily new virus cases in weeksThe U.K. has reported its lowest number of new daily coronavirus cases since mid-December, further evidence that lockdown restrictions are working in reducing transmission...

BNO Newsroom @BNODesk

BREAKING: U.S. CDC expected to sign order requiring masks on all public transportation - Reuters

BBC News (World) @BBCWorld

Earnings of wealthiest 10 men during pandemic 'could buy vaccines for all' - Oxfam says

bbc.inWealth increase of 10 men during pandemic ‘could buy vaccines for all’Billionaires’ wealth has soared while the pandemic has plunged millions into poverty, Oxfam says.

The Associated Press @AP

BREAKING: Government watchdog probing whether Justice Department officials ‘engaged in an improper attempt’ to overturn the 2020 election.

apne.wsWatchdog probes if DOJ officials tried to overturn electionWASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department’s inspector general is launching an investigation to examine whether any former or current department officials “engaged in an improper attempt” to...

BBC News (World) @BBCWorld

China overtakes US as biggest destination for new foreign direct investment, UN figures show

bbc.inChina takes new foreign investment top spot from USThe top ranking highlights China’s growing influence on the world economic stage.

Longer reads worthy of your time

Eloise Gibson @eloise_gibson

I can’t stress this enough. We’re heading for economic change, to decarbonise the country. There’ll be winners and losers. Who they are depends on decisions by govts, informed by advice out a week from today by the Climate Change Commission. Have your say!

stuff.co.nzThe change that’ll make Rogernomics ‘look like a trial period’We’re about to see the blueprint for our biggest economic transformation in decades -- can we do it without Rogernomics-level pain?

Signs o’ the times news

Alex Braae @awbraae

If you're looking for a rental in Kawerau right now, the house price surge is very bad news

thespinoff.co.nzNZ’s biggest house price surge? Kawerau. Here’s what it means for the townAs house prices escalate rapidly around the country, Kawerau saw them more than double, the biggest nationwide increase over the decade. Alex Braae goes to the Bay of Plenty town to find out what impact it is having on renters. The headline figure was stark. Data from realestate.co.nz showed tha

Bernard Hickey @bernardchickey

FYI NZ ranked highest in Bloomberg's global resilience measure for Covid-19 for third month running

Bloomberg Graphics @BBGVisualData

People are finally getting shots, but the biggest global vaccination campaign in living memory has yet to reach a point where it’s causing meaningful shifts in Bloomberg’s Covid Resilience Ranking, a measure of the best places to be in the coronavirus era: https://t.co/KxmpxNeCSn https://t.co/3JVEnx6Cdg

Threads worth unravelling

Dr. Steven W. Thrasher @thrasherxy

The wealthy of the world are displacing the costs of this pandemic on the rest of us, with the most marginalized paying the highest costs—sometimes at the expense of their very lives.

Max Harris @maxdnharris

One other limitation of the 'competence' narrative about UK's disastrous pandemic response: it's easily reducible to a story abt personal incompetence (esp when paired with pictures of Johnson). But last 9 months are as much a failure of collective as well as personal capacity /1

Chart of the day

Have a great day.

Kia Kite ano

Bernard

PS: Thanks to Martin again for today’s kaka picture.

PPS: Some fun things

gary larceny @LostEruption

Walked past this ad for investing in property that simultaneously is a call to adopt Mao Zedong Thought

Chris Slane @Slanecartoons

Planning #cartoon for @FarmersWeeklyNZ