New Zealand

The 5.8 quake was centred 30km north-west of Levin, GeoNet said, and was 37km deep. GeoNet had initially assessed the quake as 5.9.

More than 36,000 people, from the Far North to Dunedin, reported feeling the quake.

Trains in the Greater Wellington region are suspended while crews are doing the visual inspection of the full rail network. MetLink said this would cause significant delays this morning at least.

Buses and trains were being held at their nearest station.

There have been no immediate reports of damage.

Pacific peoples minister Aupito William Sio said the money will help with the recovery and rebuild from Covid-19, with the Pacific community among the hardest hit.

$80 million has been set aside for yet-to-be-announced education iniatives, while more than $30 million will go expanding skills, employment and education programmes that already exist.

$40 million will be spent on improving housing for Pacific families, and money has also been budgeted for culture and heritage funds, community content and the construction of a Fale Malae in Wellington.

Some of the men's families have lost shelter and crops yet received no aid, says Central Organics owner Maree Denniston. She's set up a Givealittle page to help them get essential services.

For over a decade, 20 ni-Vanuatu RSE workers have spent seven months of the year harvesting apple and cherries at Maree and Chris Denniston's Central Otago orchard.

George Faktaufon said Pacific airlines are not going to be able to count on national government support for handouts to keep them afloat, and the clock is already ticking for some airlines.

"It's very hard to plan for something that you are not quite sure when it's going to happen, because we have always planned for something that is certain, but the plan is depending on when Australia and New Zealand are opening up," he said.

The country says it has stopped community transmission of Covid-19, effectively eliminating the virus.

Lowering its alert level from four to three means that some non-essential business, healthcare and schools were able to resume this morning.

Around 400,000 people headed back to work, some schools and childcare facilities are open, and people are allowed to get takeout food again.

New Zealand, partly thanks to its isolation and easily-closed borders, managed to contain the virus early on.

A C-130 Hercules aircraft had taken a helicopter and supplies after the cyclone swept through the central islands of Vanuatu.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, said the response effort also gave the opportunity to repatriate a large group of New Zealanders seeking to return home.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has seen the largest consular response New Zealand has ever undertaken," said Mr Peters.

"Consular teams here and around the world are navigating extremely complex circumstances every day, to continue to find solutions that work."

Jacinda Ardern said the new arrivals will need to go into either quarantine or "managed isolation" at an approved facility for a minimum of 14 days.

"Our borders are our biggest risk," she said.

She said even one person slipping through the cracks and bringing the virus in could see an explosion of cases.

Ardern said everyone arriving will go into a managed facility that is provided by the government."

She said the tighter controls could not have been done in the beginning but "we can and are now".

“There are millions of people around the world stranded by COVID-19 and we are continuing to do our part to help them get home,” Mr Peters said. “Accordingly, Cabinet agreed yesterday that New Zealand would seek reciprocal transit arrangements with a number of countries to enable our citizens to transit each other’s airports.

“One barrier to New Zealanders getting home at present is the transit restrictions imposed by a number of countries. We continue to seek assistance from these countries to enable New Zealanders to transit through their airports in order to come home.

“Our Pacific neighbours have been hit by a Category 5 Cyclone at the same time as dealing with the economic impacts of COVID-19.

“Early reports show Tropical Cyclone Harold has caused major damage to homes, public buildings, infrastructure, telecommunications networks and crops,” Mr Peters said.

“At the request of the Government of Vanuatu, New Zealand deployed an NZDF P3 Orion this (Wednesday) morning to undertake aerial surveillance of the damage.

Cabinet has agreed that $17 million will be allocated to support a COVID-19 Pacific Response Package, which will: