Covid Watch

Green kids in lockdown Lockdown is a special time - It can be an opportunity to reevaluate what’s important. There are plenty of eco habits we could start, and it’s a special time to spend with the kids.   We are going to look at some fun and educational games, projects to do with the kids.   Kumara in a jar  You can grow beautiful green vines anywhere you want them, and any time of year.    You need: kumara, toothpicks, a jar or glass, non-chlorinated water.  1. Wash the kumara thoroughly but gently 2. Make sure the kumara can fit at least a third of its length into the jar 3. Insert the toothpicks a third the way down it 4. Place in jar and fill with water  5. In-between 10-14 days the kumara will start to bud. Make sure the kids are aware of this process.  Now for three to six months vines will grow from these bud. You can let them dangle or train them to go where ever you choose.  Egg shell people   There is a long tradition of starting your seedling in empty egg shells. The egg shells are a fertiliser and will add calcium to the garden - plus you are recycling!  Our idea is more for decoration.   1. For a week or so be careful how you crack eggs, leaving half to two thirds and put back in the carton.  2. Wash the eggshell seed pots with warm soapy water and punch a hole in the bottom with a heavy needle or similar, for drainage. 3. Use non-toxic makers and get the kids to draw faces on them. Maybe of people you know like granddad or grandma.  4. Put them in egg cups or the old egg cartoon and explain that the strength they have is because of the shape of the egg even though the egg shell is very delicate.  5. Fill with sterile seed raising mix, and seeds that will come up with lots of small stems, like mustard, cress, or alfalfa. This will look just like hair! 6. Place them in filtered light and keep the water up, and wait for the results. You can do exactly the same thing to start your spring vegetables, herbs and flowers. With these, once they have more than 2 true leaves, they could be transplanted into your garden.  LISTEN ABOVE

We all know interest rates were about to skyrocket, but lockdown could change that. Enable Me's Hannah McQueen has been talking to Jack Tame about what to do if you were abotu to re-fix your mortgage. LISTEN ABOVE

Little breakfast sesame bread rolls  
To get us through lockdown, here’s a recipe for baking soft, fluffy, yeasty deliciousness every time! 
 Makes 12 small rolls  
1 cup warm water 
1 teaspoon active dried yeast granules 
1 teaspoon honey or sugar 
4–5 tablespoons olive oil 
2½–3 cups plain or high-grade flour  
1 egg, lightly beaten for egg wash 
sesame or poppy seeds 
 Heat oven to very low, just warm — say 50°C.  Step 1: In a large glass or ceramic bowl, mix water, yeast and honey or sugar. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for 10 minutes until frothy. Step 2: Add olive oil and 2 cups of flour to the yeast mixture and mix with a knife until it starts to come together. Knead it in the bowl using a strong spoon or knife, only adding more flour if it is really too wet. This will take about 5 minutes or until the dough comes together in a ball. Tip out onto a well-floured bench.  Step 3: Oil the bowl then pop the dough back into the bowl and flip it so it’s coated in oil. Place bowl on a folded tea towel in the warm oven. Turn oven off. Leave dough to double in size, about 30–45 minutes.  Step 4: Carefully plop dough out on bench and shape into 12 rolls. Tuck them into a lined roasting dish so they’re just touching. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 30–45 minutes. Egg wash surface then sprinkle over seeds.  
Preheat the oven to 220°C and bake for 15–17 minutes until golden brown. LISTEN ABOVE

Let's face it, there's not much else to do during lockdown, so it's time to embrace some screentime. Here are Tara Ward's picks for this week:Nine Perfect Strangers: Starring Nicole Kidman and Melissa McCarthy and based on Liane Moriarty’s best selling novel, "Nine Perfect Strangers" takes place at a boutique health-and-wellness resort that promises healing and transformation as nine stressed city dwellers try to get on a path to a better way of living (Amazon Prime Video).  The Chair: Sandra Oh stars in this new Netflix academic drama as the first female English department chair at a major university (Netflix).  Superstore: five seasons of the excellent American sitcom about a group of people who work in a mid-Western chain store is on Netflix - and it will take you a full two days to binge watch every episode this lockdown (Netflix). LISTEN ABOVE

Work from the virtual office 
If we can't all physically be in the office together, could we all be together in a virtual meeting room instead? That's what Facebook is pitching with its new "Horizons Workplace" app which allows participants to put on their Facebook Oculus headsets and be transported to virtual reality. In the meeting you can see the 3D avatars of colleagues (who are also joining by wearing their headsets). Those who join by webcam or phone are displayed on a virtual version of a tv screen. 
When you're in the meeting, you can look down to your virtual laptop which is where you can make notes, or draw something to share with your colleagues. The whole experience looks very cartoon-ish at the moment. 
Facebook wants to be the home of the immersive digital experience - they're dubbing the "metaverse".  Microsoft to raise its prices for Office365 
That will bring it inline with Google's recent price hike too, with basic email and collaboration services going from $5 to $6 USD per person. 
The prices will come into effect next year, so adjust those IT budgets now. It's the first substantial price increase since Microsoft launched Office365 in 2011. Since then they've added a bunch of additional apps and features like Teams, OneDrive and more.LISTEN ABOVE

This week, there's been a bit of criticism of the journalists at the daily COVID briefing. But Kevin Milne has some praise for the journos of NZ.LISTEN ABOVE

Confirmation Delta has jumped from Auckland to Wellington .
The Ministry of Health's confirmed our Covid-19 outbreak's grown by 11 cases
Of those new cases -- eight are in Auckland and three are in the capital.
Those three had recently travelled to Auckland and visited a location of interest.
We now have a total of 31 community cases.
Otago University epidemiologist Michael Baker told Simon Barnett and James Daniels the Government has to extend the current Level 4 lockdown.
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Children aged 12 to 15 can get the jab from the start of next month, but there might still be a barrier in their way. 
Parents and caregivers who are already eligible, can bring their children with them before then. 
But, Waikato University legal expert Claire Breen told Kate Hawkesby a Ministry of Health Covid survey found some parents are still hesitant about vaccinating their children. 
"About 16 percent of those parents of 12 - 15 year olds said they definitely wouldn't allow it, and that's up from 10 percent a couple of months prior to that." 
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Chances are you've already asked this question to close friends and family. 
'Are you getting the Covid vaccine'?   
Sometimes it feels like you've started talking about religion and politics at the dinner table.  
It really can divide some people. 
But it does beg another question, whether or not it's okay to ask?  
Tim Dare is a medical ethicist at Auckland University and he told Kate Hawkesby creating narratives around subjects like this can do more harm than good. 
“We ought not to create the impression that this is something which is extremely sensitive like those stereotypes of religion and politics.” 
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The demand for the Covid-19 vaccine in this country has never been higher.  
It was announced yesterday that more than 195,000 people had signed up for the jab.
Now, an appointment does not a jab make, but if there's any bright spot in all this it's that we have been spurred into action.   
We are also getting out in the thousands to get tested - a record day of more than 16,000 tests in Auckland and either records or near records around the rest of the main centres.  
Vaccinologist Helen Petousis-Harris told Mike Hosking come September 1, when the entire country are able to book a jab, we will see how much demand there really is. 
“It’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve got to do it.” 
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