The Mike Hosking Breakfast

By Christina Maxouris and Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN
Only two US states are reporting a decline in new coronavirus cases compared to last week: Connecticut and Rhode Island.
A rise was reported in a staggering 36 states, including Florida, which some experts have cautioned could be the next epicentre for infections. Officials there and across the US are also warning of an increase in cases among younger people.
Florida reported 9,585 new coronavirus cases Saturday, a single-day record since the start of the pandemic. The number rivals those of New York's peak in early April (New York's new case tally Saturday was about 6% of Florida's). On Sunday, Florida's Department of Health reported another 8,530 new cases.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state's surge in cases in the past week was the result of a "test dump," echoing an assertion from the White House that an increase in testing is resulting in the higher numbers.
The ex-head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contended the increase was actual, not an anomaly related to testing numbers, and warned more spread and deaths were in the country's future.
"As a doctor, a scientist, an epidemiologist, I can tell you with 100% certainty that in most states where you're seeing an increase, it is a real increase. It is not more tests; it is more spread of the virus," former CDC Director Tom Frieden told Fox News on Sunday.
In the South, the numbers are rising as a result of hasty reopenings, he said, and it's "going to continue to get worse for weeks." Deaths are not yet spiking because deaths lag infections by about a month, he said, estimating the nation will see at least 15,000 more deaths in the next month.
"This virus still has the upper hand," Frieden told Fox News.
Record numbers may underestimate cases
This all came as the United States broke another record, reporting the highest number of new cases in a single day Friday with at least 40,173 new infections.
The daunting numbers could be "a tip of the iceberg," Frieden said. A CDC survey suggests the total number of coronavirus infections across the US could actually be six to 24 times greater than reported.
As cases spike, US travelers are "unlikely" to be allowed into the European Union as the bloc begins opening up to international travel, several EU diplomats told CNN.
Officials in parts of the US are now trying to reel in the spread of the virus -- which many experts have said is spiraling out of control -- by making pleas to the country's young population to keep their distance, urging the use of face masks and halting their reopening plans.
The US has now hit more than 2.53 million infections and at least 125,709 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Your coronavirus questioned, answered here
Where new cases are on the rise
The 36 states reporting a rise in cases are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Cases are tracking steady in Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota and Virginia.
New York on Sunday boasted its fewest deaths -- five -- since March 15, and hospitalizations were below 900.
About 1% of the tests conducted in the state Saturday were positive, resulting in 616 new cases in 43 counties, according to a news release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.
States hit pause on reopening
At least 12 states halted or rolled back their reopening plans in hopes of curbing the spread of the virus.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee announced Saturday he's hitting the pause button...

Internet trolls have targeted two Auckland businesses with a co-ordinated wave of fake reviews.
The business owners say the dozens of reviews are damaging their brands and raised questions about who is orchestrating them.
Police, private investigators and online safety group Netsafe are all looking into the cases.
Aucklander Lorraine Wilson said her business called House Dressings was recently hit with a flood of 1 star Google reviews, as she was called "ignorant arrogant and unprofessional" by reviewers who had never met her.
Felicia Alkin's Lioness - The Gym For Women in east Auckland, meanwhile, has also been targeted by some of the same fake accounts.

Fake reviews posted to social media about the Lioness gym for women. Photo / Supplied
"Felicia is an absolute piece of work ... Don't bother joining her gym if you are made in China," one reviewer who had never been in her gym wrote.
Wilson, meanwhile, suspected she was targeted because of a falling out with a relative, who threatened her family.
They "told me they would destroy my business", she said.
And while fake news and hate speech might not be new problems on social media, Wilson said the bad reviews couldn't have come at a worse time.
Her home-staging business helped people sell their houses by furnishing and preparing them for viewings by prospective buyers.

Fake social media comments on the House Dressings business. Photo / supplied
Yet the economic downturn had led to a sharp drop-off in home sales.
"Since the lockdown, I've had very little work," she said.
"I don't need anything to make life worse for me because I could go completely under and I'd be out of business."
Alkin, meanwhile, faced more than just the financial downturn.
Her family were also getting separate online death threats linked to Covid-19.
These started when she recently posted on Facebook about one of her customers visiting her gym after meeting the two women, who made headlines for flying into New Zealand from the UK and testing positive to Covid-19 when allowed out of managed isolation early.
Alkin said she had tried to do the right thing in alerting the public and suspending her business at the Ministry of Health's advice.
To get death threats for doing that was unacceptable, she said.
A separate stream of fake reviews came after Alkin made a post about China.
Alkin said she earlier spent $1000 buying gym equipment from a supplier in China that turned out to be faulty, she said.
She then complained online, saying she wouldn't buy products from China again, while also saying the "coronavirus comes around, from China to lock down my business".
The posts drew media attention and she was accused of being racist. It was then she was swamped with fake reviews that have dragged her overall Google rating down to 1.7 stars.
Wilson said hers and Alkin's businesses were not connected.
However, when Wilson hired private investigators to find out who was posting the bad reviews, the two women found their businesses were being targeted by the same fake Google accounts.
Most of the bad reviews were by anonymous accounts.

Felicia Alkin became the target of trolls after complaining about China online. Photo / Supplied
But one review on Wilson's business was in the name of South Island photographer Mika Samuel (Wang).
His review stated: "Wrost (sic) house staging experience".
However, Wilson said she had never met Samuel before.
When the Herald phoned Samuel, he acknowledged his account had been used to make the bad review, but said he didn't know who had done it. The review has since been deleted.
Wilson said her family suspected the bad reviews were being co-ordinated on social media groups by some members of New Zealand's Chinese community because their relative was an active member of the community.
They claimed they had...

New data has revealed the financial impact of the lockdown on the nation's housing market and identified the best and worst-performing regions.
Data crunched by OneRoof and its partner Valocity shows New Zealand property values have fallen just 1 per cent since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, as measured by a new index, despite a plunge in values during the four-week nationwide shutdown.
The situation is better than many pundits had expected, though it comes on the back of strong price growth in the months before the lockdown began.
Experts attribute the relative buoyancy to the low number of listings coupled with strong demand from buyers and record low interest rates.
Of the 15 major regions, 12 have seen declines since March 25 - the day before the country went into lockdown - with values in the remaining regions stalling.
Property values in the Greater Auckland region dropped 2 per cent on the index in the weeks after March 25, but have since recovered, and are now just 1.6 per cent off where they were before lockdown.
Similarly, New Zealand property values on the index dropped 2.4 per cent during the lockdown period but the surge in market activity since alert level 2 has seen them recover much of that loss.
Dollar-wise, Auckland City's median value on March 25 was $1.03 million. It now sits at $1.02 million.
Economists are still trying to quantify the likely impact of the pandemic on the country's housing market.
Global ratings agency S&P last week tipped New Zealand house prices to fall 10 per cent.
However, OneRoof editor Owen Vaughan says the new index shows clearly that overall the housing market is doing better than was forecast at the start of the crisis.
"While the full impact of Covid-19 won't be clear until mortgage deferrals and the wage subsidy scheme come to an end, it seems the housing market has rebounded from the lockdown.
"The index shows that values in many locations are back to where they were at the start of the year, when the market was starting to run hot. The question for buyers and sellers is whether or not the bounce-back will be short-lived."
OneRoof and Valocity created the new index to solve the challenges of measuring a housing market that suffered an unprecedented shutdown and faces an uncertain future.
The index sets as a baseline property values on March 25, 2020. Every sale since that date has then been analysed and tracked, allowing subtle changes in the market to be measured.
Valocity valuation director James Wilson said: "When we looked at the market using traditional methodology, comparing activity now to activity 12 months ago, we saw that only two territorial authorities - Kaipara and Selwyn - have seen declines in property values and that 38 have enjoyed more than 10 per cent growth.
"This gives a false impression of what's going on in the market. Yes, property values are up but that's more a reflection of the fact that these locations were experiencing value growth in the three to six months before lockdown."
Wilson says the drop in sales volumes forced OneRoof and Valocity to look at a range of different market metrics, not just median sale prices.
"By breaking down what's been selling together with the nature of the housing stock in any given location allows us to track more effectively the actual changes in individual submarkets."
The index shows the impact of the lockdown and the extent of the bounce-back in each territorial authority.The biggest fallers were North Shore (- 3.8%) and Christchurch (-3%). Others include Queenstown Lakes (-7.7%), Far North (-4.4%), Waitaki (-3.9%) and the Coromandel (-3.8%) - but those areas had low sales volumes so the numbers weren't as reliable.
The best-performer was Lower Hutt (up 1.1%). Rotorua was also high at 4.6 per cent as was Waikato (4%), Matamata (3.7%), and Kaipara (3.1%) but those areas also had low sales volumes.
Wilson...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern insists her Health Minister and health chief have a "collaborative and collegial" working relationship, despite comments in which David Clark appeared to throw a dejected Ashley Bloomfield under the bus.
Ardern said today she had seen the news footage that had gone viral last week of Dr Clark's comments, in which he pointed the finger of blame at Bloomfield for the failings in the management of Covid cases at the New Zealand border - as a crestfallen Bloomfield stood alongside.
She said Bloomfield and other health workers had worked exceptionally hard in the past few months and needed respite - but that there was also more to Dr Clark's media interview.
Ardern's comments come as the number of worldwide Covid cases has passed a grim new milestone - 10 million people have now suffered the virus, with 500,000 deaths.
And New Zealand has bounced back up to 20 active cases as a result of people returning from overseas - all of the cases are in quarantine, including one in hospital.
Speaking about quarantine bungles at a media stand-up last week, Clark said: "The director-general has accepted that the protocol wasn't being followed. He has accepted responsibility for that and has set about putting it right."
In the background, Bloomfield looks down briefly, appearing dejected at the comment. It has been variously described by commentators and viewers as brutal and cruel.
On Newstalk ZB today, Ardern was specifically asked by host Mike Hosking about David Clark's comments last week.
Hosking: "Did you look at the pictures last week of Ashley Bloomfield when your Minister of Heath threw him under the bus so publicly?"
Ardern: "I did. I did see that interview but I also know the full transcript of what happened in the interview and the elements that weren't included. That included Dr Clark talking about what an exceptional public servant Ashley was."
Hosking: "What did you see in Ashley's face?"
Ardern: "Well, the same that I've seen across people who are working in health generally. A group of people who have worked exceptionally hard across a number of months and we do have to give some respite to. They have been working incredibly hard. We have been criticsed for not directly blaming any individual person because this is a failure of our system and we have taken collective responsibility for that."
Hosking: "Did he deserve what we got?"
Ardern: "What Dr Clark said was no different to what Dr Bloomfield said only 48 hours before. No one here is placing blame at any individual's foot for something that was a systems failure and that we are all working really well collectively together to resolve."
Hosking: "You don't think it was galling that the most inept minister going was the one handing out the criticism?"
Ardern: "Again, you'll see that I have kind of disputed the framing that you have put around this whole thing, Mike. None of us are placing blame on individuals here because that wouldn't be right. We have had a system failure and we have worked hard to fix it. The report yesterday shows the efforts being made. Both Dr Bloomfield and Dr Clark have worked together exceptionally well. I have sat in meetings with these individuals frequently. I know the collaborative, collegial working relationship they have. Those individuals are part of a bigger team who have managed to get New Zealand into an uneviable position. We are doing better than most of the world right now, and it is because in no small part to their work they are doing alongside New Zealanders."
Ardern's comments come after the report revealed weaknesses in the New Zealand isolation system.
Reviewing the use of personal protective equipment such as face masks by arrivals to New Zealand will be a priority, says Air Commodore Darryn Webb after the release of the report
The report said returnees were not required to wear a mask at the airport, on...

Health Minister David Clark's Wikipedia entry was today edited to include a new piece of information.
As of earlier this morning, the entry about Clark on Wikipedia states that he is, as well as the Minister for Health, "an avid campaigner for throwing under the bus policy".

David Clark's biography on Wikipedia includes a new reference to the latest controversy. Photo / Wikipedia
The Health Minister and director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have been the subject of controversy for comments made by Clark yesterday, when he was accused of throwing Bloomfield under the bus over the border blunders.
Meanwhile, New Zealand First has crashed - with a new poll showing Winston Peter's party on just 1.8 percent.
The latest TVNZ Colmar Brunton poll shows Labour could govern alone, with 50 percent support.
Meanwhile, the Greens are up to 6 percent - meaning they would make it back into Parliament.
The ACT Party has risen by almost a percent, up to 3.1 percent, so if David Seymour wins in Epsom, he'd bring three extra MPs back to the Beehive with him.
Listen above as Kate Hawkesby and Tim Wilson join Mike Hosking to discuss the big topics of the week.
 

At the end of each week, Mike Hosking takes you through the big ticket items and lets you know what he makes of it all.
Quarantine Testing
1/10.
"This story has haunted the government and damaged their credibility, and marks its second week.
In a world where the news cycle churns ever faster this is the one that might have done the government in.
And still no finality on those numbers, let's assume we'll never get them."
David Clark
0/10.
"The disgrace of the week.
To have the gall to publicly humiliate Ashley Bloomfield, as he watched on, having been the biggest walking disaster of the Covid response yourself, reveals who you're really dealing with as a person."
Light Rail
8/10.
"Because it’s a dumb idea that won't see the light of day.
Phew, close call."
Jobs and Confidence
4/10.
"Still he issue that could haunt us most. Confidence is hard to find, almost as hard as jobs.
As yet more got laid off this week we have the growing sense the real number is worse than the official number."
But Jobs
7/10.
"How is it the agencies have work and few or no applications?
Up to $40 an hour and no takers. How's that work?
Pine Trees
8/10.
"I like a pine tree, I've got lots of them myself.
To watch a pine tree sway in the wind is therapeutic.
But mine haven't replaced farmland, and that’s the problem."
House Prices
7/10.
"More signs this week we look okay.
We have solid sale prices, good clearance rates, and good numbers in the market."
Stephen Kearney
3/10.
"Tough week. And only deserved if the replacement is the answer.
Given we don’t have a replacement, we can't be sure about the answer."
The Crusaders
7/10.
"The Blues looked good until you saw the Crusaders enter Super Rugby Aotearoa."
LISTEN ABOVE FOR MIKE HOSKING'S FULL WEEK IN REVIEW

It was grim news for Qantas yesterday, with CEO Alan Joyce announcing further job cuts, while also forecasting international travel with the company is unlikely to resume until July next year.
Qantas will continue to stand down 15000 staff, while its fleet of A380s will be sent to the Mojave Desert for storage for three years.
While international travel is plummeting, the business of aircraft storage is booming.
Forbes transport journalist Gabriel Leigh told Mike Hosking that there already were a number of places to store planes, but now that parking space is limited, more spaces are becoming available. 
He says that airlines have to choose between operating the planes with no passengers, or park them somewhere for somewhere long-term. 
"But then there's a whole question about whether you put it into long-term storage or short-term storage," with both options requiring different work and costs.
Leigh says that some airlines such as Qantas are choosing to retire planes that they would have stopped using within the next few years anyway. 

If you've been struggling to kick the sugar habit after lockdown, a new world might be one for you.
Scientists at Massey University have been researching the effectiveness of a product available in the US called Sweet Kick.
They are mints which claim to suppress sweetness in sugary foods - and it turns out, they're the real deal.
Associate Professor Ajmol Ali from Massey's School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition told Mike Hosking that the mint comes from a vine available in India. 
"Right now it makes sense. If you think Covid-19's enemy number one, and for many people right now, the sweets in the pantry is a close second, so that's part of the interest in the product right now." 
He says that it affects the tastebuds, and it suppresses that taste receptors to sweetness that heightens the other tastes. 
Ali says that the product is available in many outlets, and it is looking to expand. 

Victoria recorded its biggest single day coronavirus spike in months yesterday, but Premier Daniel Andrews says numbers will continue to increase in the coming days as authorities test "entire suburbs".
Yesterday, Victoria recorded 33 new cases, the biggest rise in cases since April 7. 
"We will see these numbers go up in coming days," Mr Andrews said. "That will be a measure of the work that we're doing, a measure of the success of this strategy.
"Now, we might all be very pleasantly surprised – test literally entire suburbs and not get many positive cases. That would be a great problem to have. But I am indicating to you, I think that we will see more cases and that's exactly why we're doing this testing.
"To get to the bottom of how much virus is out there, to take direct action with those families, with those people that have tested positive, to keep them in their homes, and to make sure that they're not spreading the virus to anybody else."
His government is undertaking a testing blitz of 100,000 people across  the Melbourne suburb hotspots, which are Keilor Downs, Broadmeadows, Albanvale, Maidstone, Sunshine West, Brunswick West, Hallam,  Fawkner, Reservoir and Pakenham.

After thousands of lawsuits from cancer patients or their estates, the company behind Roundup weed killer is settling most of the current and possible future lawsuits for more than US$10 billion.
Bayer, the German-based company that acquired agrochemical giant Monsanto in 2018, made the announcement Wednesday. It comes after years of litigation from cancer patients who claimed Roundup caused non-Hodgkin lymphoma and that Monsanto failed to adequately warn consumers of the risk.
The settlement of Roundup cases in the US "will bring closure to approximately 75% of the current Roundup litigation involving approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall," Bayer said in a news release.
"The company will make a payment of $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current Roundup litigation, including an allowance expected to cover unresolved claims, and $1.25 billion to support a separate class agreement to address potential future litigation."
Potential future cases will be governed by a class agreement that's subject to court approval, the company said.
Bayer said the settlement agreements "contain no admission of liability or wrongdoing."
Of the thousands of Roundup lawsuits filed in federal or state courts, only three have gone to trial: those of cancer patients Dewayne Johnson, Edwin Hardeman and Alva and Alberta Pilliod.
In each of those trials, jurors sided with the plaintiffs, saying Roundup was a substantial contributing factor in causing the plaintiffs' cancer.
And in each case, jurors awarded the plaintiffs tens of millions (or billions) of dollars -- though judges later reduced those award amounts, saying they were too excessive.
Bayer has appealed the verdicts in each of those three trials. On Wednesday, the company said those cases "will continue through the appeals process and are not covered by the settlement."
"It is important for the company to continue these cases as the appeals will provide legal guidance going forward," Bayer said.
As for Roundup, Bayer said it will continue selling the weed killer because it stands by previous assertions that it's safe when used as directed.
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients started suing Monsanto by the hundreds after a 2015 World Health Organization report suggested glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, might cause cancer.
The report, by WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer, said glyphosate is "probably carcinogenic to humans."
But Monsanto has long maintained that Roundup does not cause cancer and said the IARC report is greatly outnumbered by studies saying glyphosate is safe.
"Leading health regulators around the world have repeatedly concluded that Bayer's glyphosate-based herbicides can be used safely as directed and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic ... including more than 100 studies (the) EPA considered relevant to its cancer risk analysis, and more than 800 safety studies overall submitted to regulators," Bayer has said.
The American Cancer Society said with most cases of lymphoma, the cause is unknown.
But critics question whether Monsanto had a cozy relationship with regulators such as the Environmental Protection Agency.
A 2017 CNN investigation showed internal emails from Monsanto discussing communications with an EPA official.
In a 2015 email, a Monsanto executive wrote that an EPA official at the time offered to help stop another agency's review of glyphosate, saying "If I can kill this, I should get a medal."
A Monsanto spokeswoman responded at that time that the company has never paid, given gifts to or done anything else to curry favor with the EPA.