New Zealand

Further downpours overnight led to five more rescues of people trapped by floodwaters and landslips, and a significant landslip in Titirangi.

Chris Hipkins said Auckland has a big clean-up ahead from the torrential rain that began on Friday causing unprecedented flooding around the city.

"And then of course we've got the uncertainty of what the weather's going to do over the next few days still ahead of us ... so it's still a very challenging time for Auckland."

Auckland is said to have received 75% of its usual summer rainfall in just 15 hours.

A local state of emergency was declared as authorities managed evacuations and widespread flooding.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins thanked emergency services for their swift response to the disaster.

The new prime minister travelled to Auckland, where he also expressed his condolences to the loved ones of those who died in the floods.

The side will be playing against current HSBC World Sevens series leaders, New Zealand in the first quarterfinal.

Samoa remained undefeated in their pool stage after beating Spain 35-15 in their last pool game.

New Zealand lost their last pool game after they were beaten 17-14, going down to a late South Africa penalty shot at goal after both sides had scored two tries.

The quarterfinal match between Samoa and New Zealand will kick start at 9.37pm.

Samoa has put a temporary suspension on its people working in seasonal jobs in Australia and New Zealand until a review is presented to Cabinet.

Yummy Fruit general manager Paul Paynter said all of its people employed under the recognised seasonal employer scheme or RSE come from Samoa.

"We've been desperate now for labour for three years, since Covid, the absence of backpackers and basically full employment in New Zealand has meant really traumatic working conditions for a lot of our people and we were looking forward to having a smoother run this year."

The seven-day rolling average of community cases is 1979 - last Monday it was 2738. Of the new cases, 5357 are reinfections.

There were also 242 people in hospital at midnight Sunday including seven cases in ICU.

RNZ reports the ministry also reported 79 deaths with Covid-19.

She has also announced the 2023 election will be on October 14.

Ardern said she is entering her sixth year in office and it has been a challenging role. 

You cannot and should not do the role unless you have a full tank, she says. She said she hoped over summer she would be able to prepare for another term, but she has not been able to do that.

Newshub reports the Prime Minister said her term has seen a major biosecuity incursion, a terror attack, a natural disaster, a global pandemic and an economic crisis.

The report by Statistics New Zealand was based on data from the 2018 Census, which showed 39 percent lived in a home that required additional bedrooms for the number of people living in it, which shows no progress has been made since 2013.

Whole genome sequencing results for two Covid-19 cases with XBB.1.5 were reported by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) late last week.

"The detection of XBB.1.5 is not unexpected, following its recent detection in Australia and globally, and our Covid-19 response accounts for the emergence of new variants," the ministry said on Monday.

Kraken was descended from the Omicron XBB subvariant, itself a cross between two earlier strains: BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1.

The World Health Organization said it has been detected in at least 31 other countries.

Viking Orion first docked in New Zealand in mid-December.

RNZ reports Biosecurity New Zealand environmental health manager Paul Hallett said approved ports can manage risk better than special marine environments, like Fiordland.

"Approved ports have regular surveillance, our teams are based there, and ships stick to regular vessel pathways," he said.

Despite the restricted status, Viking Orion still visited commercial ports in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington, Napier, Tauranga and Auckland.

But Hallett said the ship was given a final departure date.

Now New Zealand Immigration Minister Michael Wood says he will try and meet some of the workers at the centre of it.

Wood said he was “very open” to meeting the RSE workers whose allegations formed the basis of a damning report by the Human Rights Commission into the scheme.

Sumeo said the Human Rights Commission had found too many stories akin to modern-day slavery and this indicated the problems were far greater than usually appreciated.