Checkpoint for Friday 18 March 2022

5:08 PM.Omicron has put the brakes on booster vaccine rates and the communities lagging behind could be set to stay there for some time.

Just 11 percent of Aucklanders in hospital with Covid, have been… Read more Audio

5:20 PM.New Zealand has released its Russian blacklist as the government debuts sanctions on Vladimir Putin's regime.

MPs passed legislation last week paving the way for such punitive action - but there are… Read more Audio

5:55 PM.The tributes have been flowing for prominent leader and public servant Sir Wira Gardiner.

He passed away with his whanau by his side in Gisborne this week - he had been ill and was 78 years old.

… Read more Audio

5:12 PM.The Prime Minister has gone on a marketing blitz to reel Australians to our shores.

Tourism operators are racing to ramp up in time - with less than four weeks to go before those crossing the Tasman… Read more Audio

5:15 PM.It's time to get back to "normal", National leader Chris Luxon says. He is calling for immediately ditching most requirements for vaccine passes.

He also wants to see isolation periods dropped from… Read more Video, Audio

5:26 PM.The days of sharing your Netflix password could be about to end.

[embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6301046831001

More than two million New… 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=6301046816001 Video, Audio

5:38 PM.There's concern a pharmacy test for Omicron antibody levels will lull people into a false sense of security or send them into a panic unnecessarily.

Biotech company Orbis Diagnostics says it is… Read more Video, Audio

5:42 PM.The work from home nature of the omicron outbreak has struck a tough blow to inner cities across the country.

But the move to home base has been a boon for some suburban eateries, who have been… Read more Video, Audio

5:46 PM.The four-week long war in Ukraine continues, but Russian troops appear to have stalled in their advance on cities including the capital, Kyiv.

In Mariupol, the only city to fall so far, rescue work… Read more Audio

5:52 PM.The Abuse in Care Royal Commission has been challenged by survivors to drive genuine change, not just another rebrand.

Today was the final day of a two-week hearing into Māori experiences of abuse.

… Read more Audio

6:08 PM.There are claims that Covid patients have been left waiting for antiviral treatments because Pharmac has been too slow signing a supply contract. 

But in a statement to Local Deocracy reporting, the… Read more Video, Audio

6:12 PM.Online gaming can be a gateway to problem gambling, and primary school children are allegedly being drawn in.

That's the shocking finding in the research, which identified young Pasifika as being at… Read more Audio

6:15 PM.How are you getting to work? By car, bike, bus or train? And what is it costing the planet to get workers to workplaces and home again?

It is hoped a new app will help businesses easily calculate the… Read more Video, Audio