Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

An immunologist says new vaccine eligibility should be celebrated. From today anyone over the age of 12 has the ability to book in to get the Covid-19 jab.  Despite this some are set to face long waits.  Malaghan Institute immunologist Graham Le Gros told Kate Hawkesby it needs to be targeted.  "The regions, Māori community, Pacific community and really make sure that they're really safe too, because they're the ones that live in high-density conditions and they're very vulnerable to this virus if it gets into them." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today will see the return of cafe coffee and gloriously greasy takeaways for those south of Auckland, regarding it can be picked up or delivered under Covid guidelines. But for a small business outside of a major city centre the cost of delivering is often hardly worth the profit margin. Development West Coast has got a scheme to help with that, and the CEO Heath Milne told Kate Hawkesby an incentive is more effective than a payout. "We thought, rather than give cash to businesses, we’ll help them to get into that market, by giving them a rebate for every delivery that they do.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A lot of talk around mental health at the moment, and rightly so. This lockdown feels tougher, and we’re right to feel deflated by it, our lockdowns are stricter than Australia’s. In Melbourne you can still meet up for coffee with people outside your bubble, exercise with someone outside of your bubble, go out for takeaways, coffees, flowers.  My girlfriend in Sydney says basically most businesses are considered essential and are therefore open, the same mixing of bubbles applies, and there’s more movement. That’s arguably why it’s spreading faster, but it pays to remember their lockdown is not our lockdown, so we are rightly feeling the pinch of our super strict Level 4 rules. Some say the mental health shadow pandemic will be bigger than the Covid one. In Australia it already is. There are 342 young people a week in Victoria being admitted to hospital for mental health issues, 40 kids a day in New South Wales. It’s tough.  Anxiety levels are through the roof, isolation is triggering all sorts of feelings, a

Two weeks is a long time when it comes to Covid. There are 562 community cases in the current Delta outbreak -- with just 53 new cases reported yesterday. That's 30 fewer than the day before. Most of the country comes out of Level Four at midnight and Northland is likely to follow on Thursday night, while Auckland faces another two weeks under Level Four restrictions. Otago University infectious diseases physician Kurt Krause says told Kate Hawkesby while yesterday's drop in case numbers is encouraging, only time will tell whether we have the outbreak under control. "There's new variants brewing around the world, different things are happening. It really has been hard to settle down and be confident about what's going to happen from one week to the next." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Civil Defence officials still don't know the full extent of the damage, from a night of heavy rain and extensive flooding in Auckland. Emergency services have received more than 150 calls about flooding, mostly in West Auckland. One Swanson resident has described seeing cars being swept down the road, children being carried through shoulder-height flood waters, and homes ending up underwater. Auckland Emergency Management Deputy Controller Rachel Kelleher told Kate Hawkesby response crews will head out to assist, where needed. "It's still an emerging situation at the moment, we're just working through what the needs are out there." Kelleher says the need to evacuate overrides any alert level requirements, but people should socially distance where possible. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Those on one side of a Waikato road will wake up tomorrow in level three, but the other will still be in level four. Everywhere south of Auckland will move to level three at midnight but the boundary cuts across Koheroa Road at Mercer. Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson told Kate Hawkesby he's spoken to the Prime Minister's office about it but they're sticking with their decision. "The stupidity in having a boundary down the middle of the road, I can't defend that position, it's just crazy." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It may be easier than we think to combat online scams that are continuing to run rampant in New Zealand.New research by BNZ shows nearly four out of five New Zealanders are being targeted by a scam and nearly a quarter are falling for them.It comes as BNZ launches its annual Scam Savvy Week, running from today until Friday.BNZ's Head of Financial Crime, Ashley Kai Fong told Kate Hawkesby with everyone online in lockdown, they’re more susceptible.But he says there are simple steps people can take.“Keep their software updated, do all the software patches that are required and actually educate their staff not to click on links.”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Public Service Commissioner, Peter Hughes, took umbrage at an editorial I wrote last week challenging the under performance of Ashley Bloomfield in his role as Director General of Health.Hughes misinterpreted this as me criticising frontline public servants, who he said deserve respect. That’s right, they do — from Ashley Bloomfield, whose supposed to be working on their behalf.No one’s a bigger supporter of people on the frontline than me. They do an incredible thankless and tireless job. I was not referring to them. I was talking about the man tasked with overseeing our Covid health response, and paid more than half a million dollars to do so. My criticism was of the bloated ineffectual bureaucracy sitting behind desks, which suffocates frontline workers with unnecessary overloaded processes. These are the people often caught off guard by announcements made from the 'pulpit' that aren’t directly communicated to them. It’d be great if public sector workers could be left to get on with it – let police pol

When six rounds were complete and Lisa Adams saw her name at the top of the leaderboard in the women's shot put (F37) at the Paralympic Games, a dream had been realised.She sought out her coach and sister, Dame Valerie, and the two shared an embrace before Adams had the New Zealand flag draped around her shoulders.It was a moment she won't soon forget."Honestly, it was just phenomenal," Adams told Newstalk ZB's Elliott Smith of having her sister with her in Tokyo. "That was so special to me; that hug is up there with one of the best hugs I've ever had in my life. That was so special to be on this journey with her."I couldn't do this without her, so that was special in that moment. She's been my coach throughout, but that hug was definitely a sister hug. She put the flag on me and that whole moment, it was so special. I really, really loved that." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dame Valerie Adams (@valerieadams84) Adams' Paralympic gold is the latest in a growing collection

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday praised the "colossal" effort to airlift civilians from Kabul, as U.K. troops and diplomats flew home after the two-week mission, ending 20 years of British military involvement in Afghanistan.In a video message, Johnson praised the "colossal exertions" of British troops engaged in "a mission unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes."But his government is facing criticism for leaving behind hundreds, or even thousands, of vulnerable Afghans whom the U.K. had promised to protect.The U.K. ambassador to Afghanistan, Laurie Bristow, was among those who arrived at RAF Brize Norton northwest of London on Sunday, hours after the government announced that all British personnel had left Kabul. More flights bringing back approximately 1,000 U.K. troops from Kabul airport were due throughout the day.Britain says it has evacuated more than 15,000 U.K. citizens and vulnerable Afghans in the past two weeks, but that as many as 1,100 Afghans who were entitled to come to the

National says scrutiny of the Government, in person, is critical.The Prime Minister suspended parliament last week, on advice from the Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.But, it will now resume tomorrow, after National and ACT rejected a proposal to hold it virtually.National Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop told Kate Hawkesby the select committees on Zoom were pretty inadequate.“We need to get back to Parliament and ask the questions New Zealanders need the answers to like: why is our vaccine rollout so slow? Why are we the slowest in the developed world? Why did we not prepare for this Delta outbreak properly?”LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Isn’t it interesting how much lower the bar is for bureaucrats than the private sector? Even our sports teams get more scrutiny. Imagine if Ashley Bloomfield was an All Black coach. Bear in mind, this guy is our number one, head and shoulders above the next best suitable candidate. That’s the worryingly low benchmark we’re setting and accepting across the state service for where performance expectations sit. If he was an AB’s coach, he’d be getting dissected, analysed and critiqued by all, including the NZRU. There'd be unsolicited nominations from pundits left, right and centre on who should replace him. But obviously the national game is of greater public importance and held to a higher standard than our Covid response. Not only is this a major concern for the continued underperformance of our Health Ministry and Covid response and more importantly planning, but it also gives a stark and alarming insight to the calibre of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health.  In a global pandemic threatening our safety an

Great news overnight with New Zealand winning our first medal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Sophie Pascoe won her 16th overall medal, getting silver in the 100m breaststroke. This will be a great Paralympic watching weekend while we are all stuck at home. What are the ones to watch out for? Sports broadcaster and commentator John Mcbeth joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the South Island might feel some relief today if they head into Level Three, for teachers, Level Three can be bit of a headache.  Level Three is where schools are open for kids of essential workers, so enough teachers to cover that go into work.   That means some teachers are stretched between the kids at school and the kids at home learning online.  Perry Rush from the Principal's Federation says Level Three presents more challenges. “Level Four is definitely an easier level to manage, in terms of your whole staff being in the remote and being able to support all students who are in the remote.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some parts of the country could be about to move from one form of lockdown, to another. Cabinet will meet today to discuss whether to move most of the country out of Alert Level Four from midnight tonight.  Auckland, the epicentre of the outbreak -- will remain at Level Four until at least Tuesday night. Otago University infectious diseases expert David Murdoch told Kate Hawkesby other parts of the country, particularly the South Island, are likely to move to looser restrictions. "It's likely to be Alert Level 3. I think the Alert level 3 might be slightly different from before, we're learned a lot about the virus as time has gone on." There are now 277 cases in the current outbreak, and there's a growing list of more than 20-thousand contacts and 500 locations of interest. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The thing that should be scaring us all more than the virus right now is the information vacuum. Now laid stark before us, for anyone that was ever in any doubt, with the saline scandal. And this critical piece of information was not even offered up by the Government or the Ministry of Health, but instead revealed by the media. The disingenuousness of this not remotely open, honest or transparent Government should worry us all. The spin being peddled, the lack of honesty, the withholding of information, and the inability to admit mistakes. Why won't they admit they got procurement and rollout of the vaccine wrong? That mistake is going to cost us now dearly. Why won't they give the same data and information they gave last time? And in a timely way? Why are they hiding so much? Why the lack of transparency? According to Act, and some media sources, the Government's purposely not releasing each day's data before they get to reveal it under a spotlight at 1pm. By not releasing it when they have it, reporters hav

Spencer Elden, who appeared as a naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's 1991 album "Nevermind," has claimed the record's iconic artwork is child pornography and is suing the band over alleged "child sexual exploitation." The rock album's cover features Elden, then an infant, swimming underwater while undressed, his eyes fixated on a one dollar bill. It became one of the most enduring images in rock music after the record's release. But in a complaint, filed on Tuesday at a federal court in California and obtained by CNN, Elden's attorneys said the image was pornographic and that he has suffered "lifelong damages" as a result of his involvement. Elden, now 30, has listed the surviving band members, the executors of lead singer Kurt Cobain's estate, and various record labels as defendants. He is seeking $150,000 in damages from each of the defendants, plus legal costs, and alleges the defendants "knowingly produced, possessed, and advertised commercial child pornography." The lawsuit alleges Elden was sexualized

You may have heard about ‘netiquette’. The tips and tricks so your emails in lockdown don't start accidentally offending or disrespecting colleagues. A new study shows, no matter how much you try avoid sounding ruder than you'd like, the recipient's likely to find something to be offended by.  It's a real thing - called negative intensification bias.  Professor of Communication at Massey University, Ted Zorn joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls for the Government to learn the lessons of previous lockdowns when they make their decisions around this one.  The transport industry is frustrated at road-blocks holding up freight, and dates for expired warrants of fitness not being automatically extended.Road Transport Forum Chief Executive Nick Leggett told Kate Hawkesby the decision-makers aren't helping. "It seems as though they're gripped by this timidity, and we don't understand where it is coming from. We think this stuff should be easier the second or third time around, not harder." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Much discussion has been taking place around the difficulty that some students, parents, as well as teachers are facing with remote learning. Several principals are said to be frustrated that some kids don't have the digital devices to do remote learning. But it's been over a year since most schools were last in lockdown, so have Kiwi schools gotten better this time round, when it comes to online learning? Kami are an education technology company that helps schools do remote learning.  Chair Bob Drummond told Kate Hawkesby schools were better prepared this time around. “They’ve had a lot more notice this time and people realised schools closing down was an actual thing.” LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.