Morning Report for Monday 20 April 2020

6:07 AM.Secondary principals are worried that several more weeks of remote learning for senior students will be bad for those from poor families and those studying practical subjects.

Neil Watson from… Read more Audio

6:16 AM.Germany will start to ease some of its restrictions on Monday after declaring its coronavirus outbreak "under control".

The health minister Jens Spahn credits this to a lockdown imposed after an… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

6:22 AM.A brief update from the business sector. Read more Audio

6:40 AM.The Health Ministry has been consulting with the state spy agency, the GCSB, about how best to trace people as it works to get its Covid-19 systems up to speed.

A tech industry leader says it's… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.As many as 30,000 people have missed out on operations because of the lockdown.

Public hospitals stopped a lot of their non-life threatening surgery as they prepared for a possible wave of Covid-19… Read more Audio

6:53 AM.News from the business sector, including a market report. Read more Audio

7:08 AM.Jacinda Ardern will announce if we are to head into Alert level 3 from Thursday at the weekly post-Cabinet media conference today.

Central to that decision is the efficiency of contact tracing… Read more Audio

7:14 AM.Modelling on the way coronavirus spreads and how different actions could change that is one the key pieces of information Cabinet will consider when deciding whether to drop the country to Alert Level… Read more Audio

7:23 AM.As New Zealand prepares for a potential drop in lockdown to Level 3 this week, some people think it is too soon to be relaxing the standard.

Almost a month has passed since the country hunkered down… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.Demonstrations have continued in several US states as protesters demand an early end to the coronavirus lockdown.

President Donald Trump said some businesses would reopen in Texas and Vermont today.

7:37 AM.An estimated 30,000 people have had their surgery delayed or deferred because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

While many of those are classed as elective, the conditions can still be very serious, with… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.The investment network supporting New Zealand start-up and growth companies is pulling together to help fledging companies survive the Covid-19 crisis.

Investors looking to back the next big thing in… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.The Green Party wants the government to commit to a ten-year plan to make high-speed intercity train travel a reality.

It's envisaging new electric passenger and freight services that ultimately… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.The government's decision to keep the oldest secondary students home from school when Alert Level 3 begins has some secondary principals worrying about their most vulnerable students.

They warn that… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.The Teaching Council says it should be up to principals to decide how many students can go back to school once the country moves to Alert Level 3.

It says each school is different and will need to… Read more Audio

8:08 AM.Business owners preparing for life under Alert Level 3 have been frantically renovating store fronts, building online stores and creating new ways to interact with customers.

Cabinet ministers will… Read more Audio

8:12 AM.The lockdown decision will be taken by Cabinet ministers in an online meeting.

It will start at the earlier time of ten thirty to give them plenty of time before they make such an important decision.

8:19 AM.A machete-wielding man has been shot dead by police in Auckland overnight.

Police received 13 separate calls from residents worried about a man with a machete in Central Avenue in Papatoetoe.

RNZ… Read more Audio

8:20 AM.There are concerns power bills could rise with so many people not just working from home but spending most of their spare time there as well.

Meters aren't being read and bills are instead being… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.A union representing residential aged care workers says understaffing and not enough personal protective equipment continue to be huge problems.

The government has just announced an extra $26 million… Read more Audio

8:29 AM.A brief update of movements in the financial sector. Read more Audio

8:37 AM.Some families who call New Zealand home have found themselves separated on other sides of the world, facing the prospect of months apart because of the tough border restrictions.

Only New Zealand… Read more Audio

8:42 AM.A clinical psychologist says most children will not suffer long-term emotional harm as a result of the Covid-19 lockdown and she's warning parents not to panic.

Whatever Cabinet decides about alert… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.Grey Power says many elderly people are finding it difficult to access information about lockdown rules and how to stay safe from Covid-19.

Their national president Mac Welch says it's an information… Read more Audio

8:51 AM.While sports are off the cards under lockdown, competitive video games follow no such structures.

New Zealand Esports are experiencing a boom due to Covid-19, with the industry being nationally… Read more Audio

8:55 AM.We've been ringing around the country to find out what people are getting up to while they're locked down during Alert Level 4.

Today we check in with Wellington-based writer and cartoonist Tom… Read more Audio