Checkpoint for Monday 18 October 2021

5:07 PM.Cabinet has decided to keep Tāmaki Makaurau at alert level 3 step 1 for a further two weeks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Cabinet did consider a short circuit-breaker lockdown in Auckland, in… Read more Video, Audio

5:14 PM.Northland will move down to alert level 2 at 11:59pm Tuesday, after widespread testing failed to find any sign of Covid Delta in the community.

The region moved to alert level 3 just over two weeks… Read more Video, Audio

5:18 PM.A weekend party has been followed by a flurry of apologies, and a police investigation.

The get-together, at a house on Auckland's North Shore, took place under alert level 3. It has infuriated… Read more Video, Audio

5:22 PM.The government is refusing to outline any vaccination targets linked with lowering lockdown restrictions until at least Friday.

Auckland will remain at alert level 1 step 3, for the next two weeks… Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker told Checkpoint his biggest concern the spread of Delta is an "outbreak of the unvaccinated".

"The unvaccinated are increasingly Māori and Pacific people. So we… Read more Video, Audio

5:35 PM.News from the business sector, including a market report. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6277624522001 Video, Audio

5:44 PM.Auckland restaurant and cafe owners say the time has come to drip feed more freedoms to the double vaccinated.

It was anything but the Monday morning rush in central Auckland today, as the region… Read more Video, Audio

5:49 PM.Time for the government to hammer home compulsory vaccination for construction workers, according to a building industry group.

Master Builders wants all building and construction sector workers… Read more Video, Audio

5:54 PM.Hard work is going on in Tairāwhiti to boost the low Covid-19 vaccination rate.

The region, including Gisborne and the East Cape had the lowest Super Saturday numbers and it has the lowest first dose… Read more Audio

5:57 PM.Christmas is back on in Queensland with the Premier announcing once the state reaches 80 percent double vaccinated, the border will reopen to fully-vaccinated arrivals, who will be able to do home… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.It's a step down the alert levels for Northland with the region moving down to alert level 2 at 11:59pm Tuesday.

But the north stays cut off from the rest of the country, with Auckland staying at the… Read more Video, Audio

6:13 PM.There's mixed feelings in the South Island over the government's continued decision to hold at alert level 2 despite more than a year since the last community Covid case.

Some say the safety-first… Read more Audio

6:18 PM.Health authorities are warning vaccination rates aren't high enough to loosen restrictions yet as they chase down the half a million unvaccinated people.

Auckland's just a whisker short of the 90… Read more Audio

6:22 PM.PhD students say it's unfair and short-sighted for the government to exclude them from the new fast-track residence policy.

They say they're being ignored even though they're highly-skilled and have… Read more Audio