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By Stephen Forbes, Local Democracy Reporter Changes to MIQ to bring in more healthcare workers from overseas don’t go far enough to address skills shortages in understaffed areas like South Auckland, a nurses’ union says.The Government…

An Otorohanga bakery, produce store and supermarket are among new locations of interest released by the Ministry of Health.It comes after the Ministry of Health announced 126 new Covid-19 cases today, including 18 in Waikato and…

Snakecatchers had to make a return trip to a Queensland family's home on Sunday after a massive brown tree snake decided to bring a friend along and explore their air-conditioning unit.

Stu from Sunshine Coast Snakecatchers 24/7 had previously been called out to the property to help catch one brown tree snake which was hiding in the air-con, but this time he had to tackle two giant ones in the same spot.

"This time they had two snakes in there mating. I headed over straight away and was able to get the larger one out, but unfortunately the smaller one snuck through the barriers I created and got back into the walls of the house," Stu posted on Facebook.

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READ MORE: Disneyland Shanghai goes into snap COVID-19 lockdown

Footage shows Stu carefully coil the snake out of the unit and place it in a secure bag.

He said the family is going to fill up the hole with expander foam in order to stop the snakes from returning.

Snakes getting into aircons does actually happen every now and then and they can be tough to get out.

While experts say you can minimise the chance of snakes getting inside your home by securing as many entry points as possible, this isn't always possible, especially if you are going to be using the air-conditioning as the weather warms up.

If you find a snake in your home, you should leave it alone – particularly if it is more than one and they are breeding – and keep a professional snake catcher's contact details handy.

Queen Elizabeth II has welcomed world leaders to the UN climate summit in a pre-recorded video message, saying "the time for words has now moved to the time for action".

The 95-year-old monarch had been expected to attend the Glasgow summit, but she had to cancel the trip after doctors said she should rest and not travel. The queen recently underwent medical checks and spent the night at a London hospital – her first hospital stay in years.

In the video message, played during a welcoming reception for presidents and prime ministers, the queen said she hoped that the conference will be "one of those rare occasions where everyone will have the chance to rise above the politics of the moment, and achieve true statesmanship."

"History has shown that when nations come together in common cause, there is always room for hope," she said in the video, which was recorded on Friday at Windsor Castle.

"It is the hope of many that the legacy of this summit – written in history books yet to be printed – will describe you as the leaders who did not pass up the opportunity; and that you answered the call of those future generations," she said.

"That you left this conference as a community of nations with a determination, a desire, and a plan, to address the impact of climate change; and to recognise that the time for words has now moved to the time for action.

"Of course, the benefits of such actions will not be there to enjoy for all of us here today: none of us will live forever.

"But we are doing this not for ourselves but for our children and our children's children, and those who will follow in their footsteps."

In a tribute to her late husband, Prince Philip, the queen said she was happy to welcome the delegates because the environment was a subject close to Philip's heart. In a rare public display of emotion, she said she "could not be more proud" that Philip's environmental work lives on through the work of their eldest son, Prince Charles, and his son Prince William.

Health workers in hazmat suits are not typically among the cast of characters featured at Shanghai Disneyland's Halloween party in China.

That was until this year, when a single confirmed COVID-19 case sent the park, and its adjacent shopping district, Disneytown, into a snap lockdown on Sunday evening local time.

The extreme measure saw tens of thousands of visitors and staff forced to undergo coronavirus testing before they were allowed to leave the park, as police blocked the exits and secured the grounds.

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In a video that's since gone viral on Chinese social media, crowds are shown lining up in front of makeshift testing sites, as health workers in full personal protective equipment (PPE) watch on. In the background colorful fireworks light up the night sky above a storybook castle.

The surreal juxtaposition of an impromptu mass testing drive and a Disney fireworks show is the latest example of how China's stringent zero-COVID-19 policy has permeated every corner of Chinese citizens' lives.

As countries around the world gradually open up and learn to live with the coronavirus, China remains bent on completely eradicating COVID-19 from inside its borders, deploying massive efforts and resources to stamp out even a single case.

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In its public statement, Shanghai Disney did not offer detailed reasons for the shutdown, only saying it was to "cooperate with the pandemic investigation in other provinces and cities."

But a local health commission in the neighbouring province of Jiangsu said a woman who visited Shanghai Disney on Saturday tested positive for COVID-19.

The woman had taken a train to Shanghai from Jiangxi province on Friday. During her return trip the next day, she was found to be a close contact of a confirmed case in Jiangxi and taken off the train for quarantine. She tested positive on Sunday and had a fever, and was diagnosed as a confirmed case, according to the municipal government of Hangzhou, where the woman alighted.

As of Monday morning, 33,863 people who were at Shanghai Disneyland and Disneytown over the weekend had been tested, and all results came back negative, according to the Shanghai government. But state media said about 100,000 people had visited the park at the weekend, citing sources.

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Both Disneyland and Disneytown will remain closed on Monday and Tuesday "in order to follow the requirement of COVID-19 prevention and control," the resort said in the statement. The subway station connected to Disney has also been closed until further notice.

While the park's shutdown over a single case would likely be considered extreme by most people outside of China, many Chinese internet users have praised the Shanghai government and Disney for what they see as a lenient, targeted and effective response.

The tests were well organised and conducted swiftly, and visitors were allowed to return home or to their hotels, instead of being taken into centralised quarantine.

They are required to self-isolate and undergo another COVID-19 test 24 hours after leaving the park. If that test is also negative, visitors will be asked to observe 12 days of health-monitoring and take more tests – but they won't be confined to their homes or hotel rooms.

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The requirements are actually quite mild when compared to some of the more stringent measures taken by other local authorities, as they rush to contain a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak across China.

Over the past two weeks, the country has recorded more than 300 confirmed cases in 14 provinces and regions, with health officials warning on Saturday the situation was "severe and complicated."

Last week, two high-speed trains heading to Beijing were stopped midway through their journeys, when two crew members were found to be close contacts of confirmed cases. Hundreds of passengers on board were taken away for centralized quarantine.

In Jiangxi province, a county turned all traffic lights to red to discourage traffic after a single case was reported on Saturday. Drivers who run the red light will be punished according to traffic rules, the county's traffic police said in a statement Saturday. The mandate was withdrawn on Sunday after sparking an outcry online.

In Inner Mongolia's Ejin Banner, nearly 10,000 tourists were trapped after the city imposed a lockdown over dozens of cases last month. Authorities started sending them to their home cities last week, but more than 300 tourists remained in Ejin Banner as of Sunday, according to state media.

And in Beijing, some residents complained on social media they were unable to return to the Chinese capital after making a trip out of town.

Beijing tightened entry restrictions for domestic travelers last month, canceling flights from cities with known infections. Last week, it also banned entry for people who had visited localities with infections within the past 14 days – even if they are Beijing residents who want to return home.

But on Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, some said they were prevented from buying train or flight tickets to Beijing even though they hadn't visited places with infections or areas designated medium- or high-risk.

The Chinese capital has always been a top priority in the country's zero-COVID-19 policy, and now, it's on even higher alert as a series of politically significant events are scheduled for the coming months.

Next week, members of the ruling Communist Party's elite Central Committee are due to gather in the capital for their annual meeting, which paves the way for President Xi Jinping to stay for a third term in power at the party congress next fall. Come February, Beijing will host the 2022 Winter Olympics, becoming the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Games.

As increasingly stringent restrictions upend lives in Beijing and across China, Shanghai is fast becoming the envy of the nation for being the last stronghold for more reasonable and relatively lenient COVID-19 measures. But how long that will last remains to be seen.

British naturalist David Attenborough has given leaders at the UN climate summit in Glasgow a brief lesson on the fragility of the planet and humanity's dependence on the natural world.

The 95-year-old documentary maker, who was announced at Monday's ceremonial opening as the "people's advocate," spoke ahead of presidents and prime ministers from more than 100 countries.

He said for much of humanity's existence, the climate on Earth had swung wildly before stabilising 10,000 years ago, allowing human civilisations to flourish.

READ MORE: World strapped to a 'doomsday device' and only climate action can save it

"The stability we all depend on is breaking," he said.

Sir David said the action necessary to curb greenhouse gas emissions to levels that would prevent dangerous global warming was possible, if countries move quickly and decisively.

"We are, after all, the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth," he said.

"If working apart, we are a force powerful enough to destabilise our planet. Surely working together, we are powerful enough to save it."

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The broadcaster warned against short-sightedness, asking leaders how they might explain to a child that "the smartest species" on the planet failed to see the bigger picture "in pursuit of short-term goals."

He added that the answer to the climate crisis needed to be equitable, saying that "those who have done the least to cause this problem are being the hardest hit."

The conference had the chance "to rewrite our story to turn this tragedy into a triumph."

"We are all the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on Earth," Sir David said.

"Our motivation should not be fear but hope."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier opened the summit by saying the world was strapped to a "doomsday device" and future generations "will not forgive us" if major changes are not made.