Morning Report for Wednesday 18 August 2021

7:10 AM.After a community case of Covid-19 was identified yesterday from 11:59pm on Tuesday night all of New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level 4.

The alert level will be reviewed after three days for all… Read more Audio

7:11 AM.There are four new community cases of Covid-19 all linked to the case announced yesterday -- and it is the Delta strain.

Yesterday afternoon, the Prime Minister put the country into a Level 4… Read more Audio

7:20 AM.Covid-19 is back in the community and the whole of New Zealand is back in lockdown as a result.

Otago University Public Health Professor Nick Wilson told Morning Report a return to alert level 4 was… Read more Audio

7:24 AM.Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is calling for everybody to play their part and follow the rules to successfully contain the virus.

Council facilities, such as libraries, leisure centres, playgrounds and… Read more Audio

7:26 AM.New Zealand is back in a nationwide lockdown for the first time since May 2020.

So how is the country taking it?

RNZ reporters took to the streets to find out. Read more Audio

7:38 AM.New Zealand has five active cases of Covid-19, all of which are the delta variant.

It's still unclear whether the cases are linked to people coming over the border, and genomic sequencing is… Read more Audio

7:43 AM.Children across the country are not allowed to go to school today even if their parents are essential workers.

The Prime Minister says three days is too short a time to make plans for on-site… Read more Audio

7:47 AM.For the second time in just eight days, Transpower has had to ask lines companies to reduce power to North Island homes.

The timing on both occasions could hardly have been worse - in the first case… Read more Audio

7:53 AM.There are reports some planes are leaving the Kabul airport in Afghanistan with only a handful of passengers.

Yesterday there were desperate scenes, chaos, and deaths on the tarmac as Afghans clung… Read more Audio

7:57 AM.About 40 military personnel are still waiting to depart on the mission to evacuate New Zealand citizens and some Afghan nationals from Afghanistan.

Defence chiefs on both sides of the Tasman have… Read more Audio

8:13 AM.New Zealanders are waking up this morning under a level four lockdown, as the Government goes hard and early following the discovery of a community case on Auckland's North Shore.

Health officials… Read more Audio

8:16 AM.Most of those spoken to in the South Island by RNZ last night were convinced of the need to lock down, despite the positive case being located in the North Island.

Conan Young reports. Read more Audio

8:19 AM.Many people in Coromandel township have just spent an anxious night wondering if Covid-19 is spreading in their community.

The-58-year old man who has sparked the latest scare spent the weekend in… Read more Audio

8:24 AM.Despite reassurances there are plenty of groceries on the shelves, people have still been rushing to supermarkets to stockpile for the nationwide lockdown.

Concerns of panic buying even… Read more Audio

8:27 AM.An expert says the latest Covid-19 community outbreak could already comprise more than 100 people.

Michael Plank, a University of Canterbury Covid-19 mathematics professor, says the spread will… Read more Audio

8:37 AM.New Zealand has woken to a new day in lockdown.

So how did the main centres take it?

RNZ's reporting team was out around the country. Read more Audio

8:42 AM.Cancellations at cafés and restaurants are coming in thick and fast because of the nationwide lockdown.

From today, no hospitality businesses can open, which is another blow to an industry that's… Read more Audio

8:46 AM.The food festival "Wellington on a Plate" to come to a grinding halt, because of the level four alert - right in the middle of the month-long campaign.

Restaurants are hoping this will be a short… Read more Audio