Morning Report for Wednesday 25 August 2021

6:10 AM.Covid-19 isolation rules are making it tough for some poorer families to feed themselves.

Last week a section 70 notice was brought in under the Covid-19 Public Health Response Act.

That says that… Read more Audio

6:17 AM.A treasured birthing centre in the Hutt Valley is poised to close its doors only three years after opening, leaving midwives and parents fearful about post natal care in the region.

Te Awakairangi… Read more Audio

6:37 AM.Hundreds of Pasifika people in New Zealand are booking their Covid-19 vaccinations through a new health-line number.

Pacific peoples now have the highest testing rates nationally, but as for… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.Born in Northland in December 1920, 100-year-old Mere Wihongi was among those vaccinated against Covid 19 on the remote Taranaki-King Country border at Mōkau on Tuesday.

Old enough to have grown up… Read more Audio

6:51 AM.West Auckland's Waipareira Trust will today begin offering saliva testing to all its staff involved in Covid-19 vaccination and testing.

Saliva testing, which is seen as less invasive than regular… Read more Audio

7:10 AM.Five Aucklanders who turned up for their Covid-19 vaccine last month may have got a dose of saline solution instead but the Ministry of Health still hasn't told them.

The Ministry still isn't saying… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.A staff member from Middlemore Hospital's emergency department tested positive for Covid-19 last night, but health authorities deem it a low risk.

The worker is fully vaccinated, was wearing PPE and… Read more Audio

7:21 AM.Applicants for the wage subsidy have been coming thick and fast, with 128,000 since the scheme opened on Friday and almost half billion dollars already paid out.

But the country's biggest employers… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.The National Party is contining to criticise the government's handling of the latest outbreak of Covid-19.

They say the vaccine rollout has been too slow, and the parliament suspension means there… Read more Audio

7:35 AM.A second group of New Zealand evacuees has made it out of Kabul and is awaiting for a commercial flight home.

New Zealand is working with Australian Forces to repatriate at least 200 New Zealand… Read more Audio

7:40 AM.A Defence Force Hercules has arrived back at its base in the Middle East after evacuating a second group of New Zealand and Australian nationals from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Afghanistan.

7:48 AM.Almost 53 years ago, the Apollo 8 mission was the first manned space flight to leave low earth orbit, and reach the moon.

The mission was a precursor to the famous Apollo 11 moon mission which… Read more Audio

7:55 AM.Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has died at the age of 80.

A family statement said Watts died peacefully in a London hospital, surrounded by those closest to him.

It comes weeks after it was… Read more Audio

8:10 AM.Associate Minister of Health, Peeni Henare, has responded to our story this morning that five Aucklanders could have received a injection of saline solution instead of the Pfizer vaccine.

The… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.The number of MIQ rooms available for people desperate to enter the country has been falling sharply since the beginning of the year.

Figures provided by the Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.'It's life Jim, but not as we know it.' - a famous observation by Star Trek's Spock that could easily describe lockdown.

Many things we take for granted are simply not as straightforward. Often more… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.Sore necks, cramped spaces, and fighting the allure of working from the couch.

Lockdown means working from home for many of us which also means less than ideal work space set ups.

Occupational… Read more Audio

8:37 AM.Some schools have been helping their community with more than just learning during lockdown.

Manaia View School in Whangarei sent food to some of its families when it dropped off computers and… Read more Audio

8:39 AM.The New Zealand Wheelchair rugby team makes its first appearance at the Paralympics since Beijing in 2008 with the aim of restoring some of the pride that made them Olympic Champions.

New Zealand won… Read more Audio

8:43 AM.Alert level 4 has changed the way pregnant people are able to be cared for by midwives.

Like many workforces during Covid-19, the midwifery workforce is stretched and adjustments have had to be made.

8:49 AM.Lockdown means no takeaways, no uber eats and often long lines at the supermarket. But perhaps it also allows - or forces us - to be more creative in the kitchen. Celebrity chef Nadia Lim gave Corin… Read more Audio

8:56 AM.Animals at the zoo are finally have a bit of peace and quiet under alert level 4.

Hamilton Zoo is closed to visitors, but there's a team of essential workers keeping an eye on things, making sure… Read more Audio