July 12 Morning Briefing: Stranded Kiwis Return Home As MIQ Responds To New Criticism | 1 NEWS

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Kiwis stranded in New South Wales are offered a way back, MBIE raises new criticism over managed isolation bookings and Sir Richard Branson wins the billionaires’ race to space.

Kiwis stranded in New South Wales will be able to book flights to New Zealand later this morning.

Air New Zealand tickets will go on sale from 10 a.m. for those who wish to return home and spend two weeks in controlled isolation. Qantas will also offer flights through a priority phone number released today.

Returnees on these flights do not need to reserve a place in managed isolation as these will be automatically assigned.

It comes as the ministry responsible for MIQ is addressing further criticism of the isolation system run by other travelers.

The Ministry of Enterprise, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is checking that its reservation system is suitable for its needs, as a third-party website is accused of taking advantage of people’s desperation to return home.

MIQ Helpers charges New Zealanders more than $ 1,200 to help them secure a place in managed segregation, a charge that a travel agent has called crazy.

MBIE says it’s up to individuals to decide whether they want to use a third-party website, but it is still looking at its own booking processes.

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Epidemics multiply abroad

And as the Kiwis scramble to return home, Covid-19 continues to tighten its grip in other parts of the world.

New South Wales recorded 77 more cases of the virus yesterday, with Prime Minister Gladys Berejiklian expecting those numbers to exceed 100 today. One person has died after contracting the virus in Sydney, while 15 other patients are in intensive care.

Meanwhile, Fiji has reported 485 new cases of Covid in 24 hours, with special containers being brought into the morgue to help the country cope with the escalating crisis.

And UK Covid cases have also hit their highest level in five months as the country prepares to drop all lockdown restrictions within a week.

It comes as more than 100 scientists and doctors signed an open letter in The Lancet, claiming that removing restrictions is now unethical and illogical.

Trial for the murder of an officer begins

A trial will open this morning for those charged in the murder of Constable Matthew Hunt in the Auckland suburb of Massey last year.

The 28-year-old officer was carrying out a routine traffic check when he was fatally shot.

Eli Epiha faces three counts of murder, attempted murder and dangerous driving causing injury. Natalie Bracken is accused of being an accomplice after the fact. The trial is expected to last several weeks.

Meanwhile, a 23-year-old man appears in court today following the shooting of a police officer in Hamilton in the early hours of Saturday morning. The officer involved remains in Waikato Hospital in stable condition.

Risks of lead returning to the spotlight

When the people of East Otago discovered their water supply was recording spikes in lead levels earlier this year, it put the poisonous metal back on Kiwis’ radars. But what do we really know about its risks?

Although it has been phased out from paint and gasoline in the country, lead exposure is still a public health concern.

TVNZs Sunday investigated the problem, finding out where the source of the poison could be in your own home.

Big change for New Zealand workplaces

The Covid pandemic has seen big changes in our daily lives, the way we work is one of the most notable.

Office space is shrinking as businesses large and small move to working from home or co-working spaces.

1 NEWS took a closer look at the trend some are now predicting and the ramifications of this change.

Other news to note this morning:

– The Viking Bay fishing boat carrying two crew members infected with Covid-19 will dock in Wellington today.

– National leader Judith Collins said her party’s new campaign, Demand The Debate, claims the Kiwis are “left out of important decisions by the Labor government”.

– As the Reserve Bank prepares to publish its monetary policy this week, several economists anticipate an increase in the official exchange rate by early 2022.

– Labor MP Louisa Wall told Q + A that she had very personal reasons for wanting to address Parliament over a suicide report last week.

– Extreme weather conditions hit both coasts of the United States over the weekend, with dreaded wildfires triggered by scorching heat in California and Storm Elsa moving quickly through New York and New England.

– A child was lucky enough to be rescued after slipping on a chairlift at Mount Hutt.

– Novak Djokovic won his 20th Grand Slam title after winning the Wimbledon final on the night.

– And England face Italy in the final of the European Championship.

Sir Richard Branson. Source: Associated press

Sir Richard Branson won the billionaires race to space with a successful flight in his own rocket overnight.

Branson and five employees of his space travel company Virgin Galactic have reached an altitude of 88 kilometers above the New Mexico desert, enough to experience several minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth.

He became the first person to take off in his own spaceship, beating fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos by nine days.

Bezos, who is due to fly his own rocket into space on July 20, sent Branson his wishes for a safe flight before taking to Twitter to list the ways he thinks his company travels in the world. space will be better.

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