Checkpoint for Wednesday 4 March 2020

5:11 PM.A luxury retail brand is asking Auckland workers to take voluntary redundancy, cut their hours or take unpaid leave after sales have dived in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak.

DFS Galleria in… Read more Video, Audio

5:20 PM.Public health officials are racing to track down dozens of people who may have been in close contact with the second New Zealander diagnosed with coronavirus.

The woman, in her 30s, returned from… Read more Audio

5:21 PM.Government ministers have agreed in principle to remove the stand-down period for people seeking income support from MSD due to Covid-19.

Speaking a short time ago, Jacinda Ardern said ministers… Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Audio

5:42 PM.In the US it is Super Tuesday in the Democratic presidential primary. Fourteen states have been voting for their preferred candidate to take on President Donald Trump in November's election.

Joe… Read more Audio

5:43 PM.A police officer has gone on trial accused of raping a female colleague in Northland.

The 29-year-old man, who can't be named, faces one charge of indecent assault and one of sexual violation by… Read more Audio

5:48 PM.What happens when you relinquish your citizenship and then want it back?

That is what happened to 74-year-old Vivien Hill. She left New Zealand when she was 55 to live in Norway, which at the time… Read more Audio

5:52 PM.A Wellington councillor says the city's cemeteries are at a critical point, with concerns mounting that they might soon run out of space.

The council currently manages two active cemeteries, but one… Read more Audio

5:55 PM.The New Zealand Breakers have announced a new assistant coach for next season.

Chanel Pompallier is not the first woman to join an Australian National Basketball League coaching staff, but she will… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.The government is urging calm as a second case of Covid-19 is confirmed in New Zealand.

Public health officials are now racing to track down those who've been in contact with an Auckland mother of… Read more Audio

6:11 PM.Air New Zealand has announced it is making further cuts to domestic, trans-Tasman and Asia services because of the Covid 19 outbreak.

RNZ business editor Gyles Beckford has the details. Read more Video, Audio

6:20 PM.So how is the ordinary New Zealander being affected by the threat of coronavirus? Our reporter Katie Doyle and cameraman Nick Monro went to the Auckland suburb of Howick to get a snapshot. Video, Audio

6:23 PM.Water restrictions have been extended to Northland's east coast communities and a total fire ban remains in place despite rain sprinkling parts of the region.

Coastal communities have been told to… Read more Audio

6:25 PM.The first official announcement for New Zealand athletes heading to this year's Tokyo Olympics has been made this morning, with seven sailors the first names on the list.

The Kiwi team which is… Read more Audio