Stories by Phil Pennington

Having a "train wreck" of a building at Christchurch hospital will be on government ministers' heads if they accept the DHB's decision, a dissenting board member says.

The Ministry of Health says it had align the app with other government approaches, get Cabinet approval and ensure privacy before launching the app.

Canterbury DHB has revealed it asked for $438m to rebuild its strained hospital but has had no choice but to settle for a third of that.

New figures show the government spent almost $1 billion on contractors and consultants last year.

Tech developers whose ideas are behind the government's contact tracing app had to wait weeks to see action. One of them says the app put out is "insufficient" for businesses' needs.

Christchurch Hospital is pushing ahead with a new $150m medical tower block despite its own doctors pleading that it's far too small.

One of the most common symptoms of Covid 19 - a sore throat - is not listed on the card everyone must fill in before being allowed into the country.

An official report estimates allowing cycling on footpaths could lead to one death and 17 serious injuries a year but still have a $10 million upside.

A district health board that is looking at options for a new national infection surveillance system says this has nothing to do with Covid-19.

Staggered starts at work, buses running half full, and limits on the lifts are all prospects facing office workers heading into Covid-19 alert level 2.

Rapid turnover of staff has been hampering a government agency that's crucial to the pandemic recovery.

Restaurants and bars are gearing up with the tech industry to use a range of Covid-19 contact tracing apps in alert level 2.

US data firm Palantir, which is is providing numerous governments with software for tracking Covid-19, has been in talks with the Privacy Commissioner.

None of the travellers returning to New Zealand to see a family member who is close to dying have been allowed out of managed isolation.

New Zealand has increased its intensive care bed numbers to 358 in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, with another 200 expected by August.

A nurse at Waitemata DHB - where three staff have contracted Covid-19 - says its use of PPE has been inadequate.

Vulnerable fast food workers are speaking up about feeling unsafe but being afraid to challenge breaches of Covid-19 rules at restaurants.

Complaints of businesses breaching level 3 restrictions are flooding in, but there is uncertainty around who will police the breaches. Video, Audio

Foreign security agents would have been free to intercept New Zealanders' cellphone calls under a bill paving the way for the Apec summit next year.

A US data-mining company says its Covid-19 technology is not being used in a way that can identify individuals.

The secretive US data-mining firm Palantir founded by Silicon Valley billionaire and NZ citizen Peter Thiel has had talks with the government here about combating Covid-19. Audio

The Health Ministry has no plans to routinely re-test people for Covid-19 after they have recovered from the virus.

Businesses are desperate to know what minimum amount of contact tracing they must provide or invest in to operate under alert level 3 or, in just under three weeks, level 2.

The Opposition has taken to pouring doubt on the Health Ministry's assertion it can trace 5000 people a day who have had contact with a Covid-19 carrier. Audio

The Health Ministry has been consulting with the GCSB over tracing people as it works to get its Covid-19 systems up to speed.