NZ

In a statement released this afternoon, the Ministry of Health said there were no new cases for the ninth straight day.

The total number of confirmed cases remains at 1154. The combined total of confirmed and probable cases is 1504.

There have been no further deaths.

After a week of no new cases, the number of active cases dropped to one on Friday.

There were 2111 tests carried out yesterday, and 280,983 have now been processed in total.

There are calls across the region for travel to be reinstated, possibly before a trans-Tasman bubble with Australia.

Ashley Bloomfield said the Ministry of Health hadn't yet been asked for advice about an arrangement.

"My own view is that the risks can be managed well, especially if we've got countries that have got good testing in place and we know that they haven't got any cases and the arrangements can be put in place for travel to and fro," Dr Bloomfield said.

But just when Super rugby or netball's ANZ premiership returns is unknown as the government will decide on Monday whether the country will shift from level three to two.

Under level two rules though spectators will not be allowed at games.

New Zealand Rugby (NZR) confirmed there will be a New Zealand Super Rugby competition involving the five franchises and it will be played over ten weeks, two games each weekend and 20 matches in total.

NZR chief executive Mark Robinson said in the best case scenario the competition would start in June.

Government officials have given an update on the the Covid-19 national response, the latest health update, border issues and an essential services update.

Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there were now 205 confirmed and probably cases, and there had been a total of 9780 tests undertaken so far.

Eight people who arrived in Auckland airport yesterday tested positive for Covid-19.

There are fears the coronavirus could spell a repeat of an epidemic of measles that spread from New Zealand to Samoa, where it has killed 83 people and made nearly 6000 ill since October.

Samoa's Ministry of Health has already confirmed that two Samoan sailors are in quarantine for 14 days at the Faleolo District Hospital amid fears they might be carrying China's coronavirus.

Samoa has stopped direct flights from China to reduce the risk of introducing the coronavirus.

The 57-year-old victim has been identified as Meliame Fisi’hoi.

Police guarded her home throughout the week while forensics combed the scene.

 Last week, Acting Detective Inspector Shaun Vickers said police were still investigating a shooting on the same street in early December.

“At this point it is too early to speculate as to whether these two incidents are connected or not, but this is forming part of our investigation,” said Mr Vickers.

PMN News reports Fisi’hoi’s family is making preparations to bury their mum.

The Ministry of Health has amended laws barring non-residents from accessing vaccinations in a bid to curb the spread of measles among workers, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) said on Friday. It comes as the death toll from a measles epidemic in Samoa - currently at 79 - continues to rise.

The changes will mostly affect Samoans in or travelling to New Zealand under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, which enables around 13,000 Pacific workers to visit New Zealand each year on temporary work permits.

Tonga, Samoa and Fiji's performances at the World Cup were hampered by a lack of economic resources, Fiji economist Wadan Narsey said.

He said if a Pacific team was included in the Super Rugby competition, it would strengthen Pacific rugby unions financially.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid that New Zealand and Australia gave to the Pacific had a negligible political impact, he said.

The report, He Whakaaro, says nearly 15 percent of Māori students and 12 percent of Pasifika students said teachers were unfair to them because of their ethnicity in the previous year, but only 3 percent complained of bullying related to their ethnicity.

The figures were based on new analysis of data gathered in the Youth 2000 University of Auckland survey of 8500 teenagers in 2012.

The Auckland teenager snatched 94kg and clean and jerked 112kg for a 206kg total, to win all three gold medals in the women's 76kg division.

It really does mean a lot because it just shows that all my hard work is paying off, at the end of the day, and I'm just very pleased with myself and all of my team members."