ABC via RNZ news

Facebook will restrict publishers and people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content.

The announcement comes in response to proposed new laws in Australia that would force tech companies to negotiate with media companies over how much to pay them for news content.

The move would also prevent people overseas sharing Australian content on the social media site.

Facebook said the law fundamentally misunderstood the relationship between their platform and publishers who use it to share news content.

It said it faced the stark choice between attempting to comply with a law, or banning news content on its services in Australia – and “with a heavy heart” it was choosing the latter.

The move came a day after Nine and Seven West Media reportedly made multi-million-dollar deals with Google for use of content.

“We understand many will ask why the platforms may respond differently,” the Facebook statement said.

“The answer is because our platforms have fundamentally different relationships with news.

“Google Search is inextricably intertwined with news and publishers do not voluntarily provide their content.”

The social media giant said it had explained for months that “the value exchange between Facebook and publishers runs in favour of the publishers – which is the reverse of what the legislation would require the arbitrator to assume”.

“Last year Facebook generated approximately 5.1 billion free referrals to Australian publishers worth an estimated AU$407 million.”

The company said what it gained from news content was “minimal”, and made up about 4 per cent of what people saw in their newsfeed.

– ABC 

This RNZ story is republished with permission

A government MP in South Auckland is calling on constituents to be kind and compassionate following the latest community outbreak of Covid-19 in the area.

Three cases of coronavirus were confirmed over the weekend, plunging Auckland into Level 3 lockdown and the rest of New Zealand into Level 2 until midnight Wednesday, 17 February.

Panmure-Otahuhu’s Labour MP Jenny Salesa is reminding constituents that they defeated the virus last year by pulling together.

She wants to avoid any bullying or harrassment of sufferers.

“Targeting those particular families. And so, it was really just a reminder to our people in South Auckland that we have addressed Covid-19 successfully in the past,” said Salesa.

“We’ve done it collectively and together by uniting to fight against this virus, a very tricky virus, but that we can do it best when we’re kind and compassionate with each other.”

Meanwhile, an Auckland city councillor says Pasifika people in his Manukau Ward are often front-line workers who may be concerned about job security in the latest outbreak.

Many people lost their jobs in the area following last August’s community cases, said Fa’anana Efeso Collins.

Social services, union representatives and Community Law are working to help people gain confidence and knowledge with employment issues, he added.

“Our people are often the essential workers and a lot of them feel disempowered in their work places,” said Fa’anana.

“So it’s important those of us who are community leaders and involved in employment issues are able to stand alongside them and give them the necessary encouragement that they’ll need to be able to raise issues with employers.”

This RNZ story is republished with permission

Auckland and wider New Zealand will drop one level each – to levels 2 and 1 respectively – from midnight tonight, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.

There is one exception to the alert levels: Papatoetoe High School. Students and their families are being asked to stay home, and return a negative Covid-19 test before returning to school on Monday.

“As ever, if you are sick, please stay home,” Ardern said. “This continues to be one of our most important restrictions.”

She said Cabinet will review the alert levels again on Monday.

“There is every chance we will find further cases.

Auckland went into alert level 3 and the rest of the country to level 2 at midnight on Monday morning after three community cases in South Auckland were found over the weekend.

Two more cases of Covid-19 in the community were reported today, both of them students at Papatoetoe High School. School principal Vaughan Couillault confirmed they were siblings, and one was a classmate of the existing case.

Dr Bloomfield has said a further member of those students’ household has also tested positive since then.

Cases D and E – the siblings reported earlier today – were not infectious when they were at school, Bloomfield said.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the Health Select Committee today it was still too soon to say what impact the new cases would have on Cabinet’s alert level decision this afternoon.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told the select committee the siblings were isolating already as they were classed as a close contact and casual-plus contact.

This afternoon he said we should be encouraged that all five of the community cases remained in a tight formation with clear epidemiological links.

He said testing of the household contacts would take place and exposure events would be looked at. People linked to any exposure event would also be asked to isolate.

He said family members for the two siblings were also isolating.

Dr Bloomfield has noted that health appointments are essential and has advised anyone with an appointment in Auckland to ensure they go.

This RNZ.co.nz story is republished with permission

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is speaking at a briefing after a Cabinet meeting to discuss the alert level settings.

Auckland went into alert level 3 and the rest of the country to level 2 at midnight on Monday morning after three community cases in South Auckland were found over the weekend.

Two more cases of Covid-19 in the community were reported today, both of them students at Papatoetoe High School.

School principal Vaughan Couillault confirmed they were siblings, and one was a classmate of the existing case.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the Health Select Committee today it was still too soon to say what impact the new cases would have on Cabinet’s alert level decision this afternoon.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told the select committee the siblings were isolating already as they were classed as a close contact and casual-plus contact.

He said testing of the household contacts would take place and exposure events would be looked at. People linked to any exposure event would also be asked to isolate.

He said family members for the two siblings were also isolating.

This RNZ.co.nz story is republished with permission

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says there are two new cases in the community – both are students at Papatoetoe High School.

The news comes as Cabinet are deciding whether to lift Auckland out of the level 3 lockdown and the rest of the country out of level 2.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected to make the announcement at 4.30pm.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield told the Health Select Committee this afternoon that one of the new Covid-19 cases was a classmate of the original case.

He said the case was being treated as a close contact and was isolating, as were their family members.

“Her brother, who also tested positive, is categorised as a casual-plus contact because he’s student at the school.

“But in this case it’s most likely that the chain of transmission is from our original case to her classmate, who’s then passed it on to her brother.”

Dr Bloomfield said they’ll be looking very carefully at whether there were any other positive tests coming out of the high school.

“So far two thirds of them, over 1000, have been negative which is encouraging,” he said.

Authorities say incoming Covid-19 community test results following the Auckland cases are encouraging, but caution in the next few days will be crucial.

A surge in testing has yet to discover any spread to close contacts or further into the community.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield told Morning Report that was positive, but it was important for parallel chains of transmission to be uncovered if they existed.

“The key thing we’re trying to rule out is, first of all, have any of our existing cases passed the virus on to someone, either at the school or in the workplace. Now the testing so far is reassuring in that case.”

The daughter in the Papatoetoe family at the centre of the recent community cases was the first to report the onset of symptoms, but it was still unclear if she was the index case.

“Whilst, yes, the mother works in the Auckland Airport precinct and, whilst arm’s length removed, has got an association with incoming flights through being part of that laundry, it’s really important here to remain open-minded,” he said.

“So, we’re very interested, of course, in the testing from the school to make sure that if indeed the daughter was the index case that we are identifying where that might have come from.”

The mother, father and daughter – who all tested positive – have been moved to quarantine, while another household contact who has tested negative remains in isolation at home. Bloomfield said the family was doing well.

More than 3000 people were tested across the Auckland region yesterday, focusing on close contacts and those who had visited places of interest.

“This is the thing we’re trying to find out, really are there parallel or onward chains of transmission in the community. I should say that our sense is that we would have picked up at least someone else, through the regular testing of anyone with symptoms,” Bloomfield said.

Wastewater testing in the area last week had also returned an encouraging result.

“ESR has been doing some quite regular wastewater testing, the last result from that was on the 10th of February and that didn’t show any virus in the South Auckland area.”

More wastewater testing would be carried out this week, he said.

On saliva testing, Bloomfield said this was being rolled out across some managed isolation and quarantine facilities and cost around the same as a nasal swab test.

“We have talked to Rako [Science] about their testing, which is saliva based, and the results they have are from the US, which we’re still treating with some caution about whether it’s going to be as accurate as the swabbing,” he said.

“So we will be watching with interest any further work they do and any results they have from that.”

This RNZ.co.nz is republished with permission

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is holding a post-Cabinet meeting media briefing with Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

Watch here:

Ardern this morning revealed that genomic sequencing of the latest Covid-19 community cases in Auckland showed they were the UK variant of the coronavirus.

Ardern told RNZ’s Morning Report the results showed the government was right in taking a precautionary approach in moving alert levels, considering the UK variant was more infectious.

Auckland was put into alert level 3 at midnight, while the rest of the country moved to level 2 after three community cases were revealed yesterday.

Ardern said on Sunday the alert levels would be reassessed on a daily basis.

There were no new community cases today, but five new cases were identified in managed isolation facilities.