Morning Report for Thursday 14 May 2020

6:07 AM.The end of Alert Level 3 will also mean the end to seven weeks of working from home for a number of people.

Work places are still required to maintain physical distancing for staff and some workers… Read more Audio

6:20 AM.Wine regions are preparing for tougher times as a lack of overseas visitors creates a big hole in vineyard sales.

Many wineries plan to open with the shift to level two today.

As Jonathan Mitchell… Read more Audio

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

6:22 AM.News from the rural and farming sector. Read more Audio

6:38 AM.It's time for New Zealanders to get out and spend cash like tourists.

That's the message from a new campaign in Canterbury.

It follows a separate survey that says two of every three businesses in… Read more Audio

6:43 AM.The tables are well apart from each other, everything has been thoroughly cleaned, and the doors will open at 7.30 this morning.

Now that the country has moved to Alert Level 2, the staff at Fidel's… Read more Audio

6:44 AM.For some people, today marks the end of online workouts and backyard burpees.

Gyms are allowed to reopen under level two - though must adhere to the social distancing guidelines, and the limit of… Read more Audio

6:47 AM.It's a Budget Day unlike any other. The government won't be unveiling its economic plans for the year, but the first step in its plan to start picking up the pieces left by Covid-19.

Entitled… Read more Audio

6:50 AM.The Wellington-based company Weta Digital is one of the few major visual effects facilities around the world to remain open, with Covid-19 hitting the industry hard overseas.

As its executive… Read more Audio

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

7:08 AM.It's the first morning of Alert Level 2 after nearly seven weeks of strict lockdown protocols in New Zealand.

This means most people can go back to work with almost all businesses except for bars… Read more Audio

7:13 AM.From today you'll be able to go shopping, dine in at a restaurant or cafe, go to the library or the gym, and take your kids to the playground as the country enters Alert Level 2.

The last two days… Read more Audio

7:19 AM.As the country emerges from a frozen economy, the government must decide how much to tax and how much to spend.

In today's budget, Finance Minister Grant Robertson will lay out his plan to get New… Read more Audio

7:28 AM.Traffic will be picking up around the country this morning on the first day of Alert Level 2.

While schools don't fully open until next Monday, thousands will be returning to work today for the first… Read more Audio

7:34 AM.The international screen industry is turning its focus to New Zealand as a safe location, thanks to its success - so far - in containing Covid-19.

It's hoped other sectors hit hard by the pandemic -… Read more Audio

7:39 AM.Authorities now have sweeping powers to enforce Covid-19 restrictions.

Legislation - pushed through under urgency - passed its final reading in Parliament last night with the National Party and ACT… Read more Audio

7:41 AM.Government ministers were forced into a climbdown over tangi and funeral rules which initially restricted attendees to a maximum of ten people at a time.

It is now set at 50 people, but the funeral… Read more Audio

7:45 AM.Government ministers were forced into a climbdown over tangi and funeral rules which initially restricted attendees to a maximum of ten people at a time.

It is now set at 50 people, but the funeral… Read more Audio

7:51 AM.It's been a difficult seven weeks for many New Zealanders during the nationwide lockdown. But for Dave Finlay, a homeless man living out of his car in Wellington, it's been particularly difficult.

… Read more Audio

7:54 AM.The inhabitants of New Zealand's zoos have gone without their usual stream of visitors for the past seven weeks.

That's set to change, as zoos and wildlife parks reopen under Alert Level 2.

… Read more Audio

7:56 AM.Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult is gearing up to welcome Alert Level 2 and easing of travel restrictions with an iconic Kiwi activity to start to the morning - a Bungy Jump.

Queenstown Lakes has been one… Read more Audio

8:08 AM.It's the first morning of Alert Level 2 after nearly seven weeks of strict lockdown protocols in New Zealand.

This means most people can go back to work with almost all businesses except for bars… Read more Audio

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

8:37 AM.The nurses organisation is calling for Worksafe to investigate how seven nurses caught Covid-19 at Waitakere Hospital.

They caught the virus after infected residents from St Margarets rest home were… Read more Audio

8:40 AM.Mark Brown, the deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the Cook Island's has called for the country's recent status of "developed nation" to be revoked, to help the country access funds to… Read more Audio

8:44 AM.Lockdown rules have meant nearly empty roads and a dramatic decline in car and motorcycle accidents over the past seven weeks.

There is concern about what will happen when rusty drivers get back… Read more Audio

8:50 AM.Hardware stores are among the hardest hit in the lockdown retail slump with the country's two big operators closing sites.

Bunnings Warehouse is proposing to close seven stores that are no longer… Read more Audio

8:53 AM.The divisive relationship between the Dunedin City Council and central city businesses may be ready to explode if proposed speed limit changes come into force.

The council will decide today on a… Read more Audio

8:57 AM.In Auckland so many men are flocking to barbers you could be excused for thinking you were at Masterton's Golden Shears competition.

Reporter Anneke Smith is outside The Barbers Room on Dominion Rd… Read more Audio