Morning Report

The hunt is on for a 29-year-old man who escaped custody while being taken from hospital to Rimutaka Prison last night.

He was last seen on foot in the Silverstream or Heretaunga area in the Hutt Valley.

RNZ reporter Eleisha Foon is in the Hutt Valley.

Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling on the Government to proactively backpay people who have been denied a benefit because they got redundancy pay when they were laid off.

An RNZ investigation found Work and Income had ignored its own legislation by telling those people they were not eligible for a benefit until that money ran out.

The Ministry of Social Development has since corrected that advice and reminded frontline staff that redundancy should not be a factor when calculating when a benefit could start.

Ricardo Menedez-March is a coordinator for Auckland Action Against Poverty.

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Children and teachers can expect timetable changes, zoom meetings and a lot more hand washing when they return to school under Alert Level 2.

The government will announce today when schools can go back and principals say it won't be like schooling before the lockdown.

They say remote schooling will change the way many teachers do things, and in some respects they will be starting the school year all over again.

RNZ's education correspondent, John Gerritsen, reports.

Otago University epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker says while New Zealand is very close to being able to ease restrictions, we will all need to remain very vigilant when we do.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

The cabinet will decide today whether to greatly reduce the restrictions that have been in place for nearly seven weeks.

While many people are crossing their fingers that will happen, others worry the fight against the virus could go backwards.

RNZ health correspondent Rowan Quinn takes a look at what Covid-19 looks like in New Zealand right now.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has held a national address where he revealed further details of his government's plan to ease the country out of lockdown.

The UK is one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic, with 31,000 deaths and more then 200,000 confirmed cases.

UK correspondent Olly Barratt speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Cabinet will decide today whether to greatly reduce the restrictions that have been in place for nearly seven weeks. 

While many people cross their fingers that will happen, others worry the fight against the virus could go backwards.

Matire Harwood is a GP at Papakura Marae's health clinic and an associate professor at Auckland medical school

She told RNZ health correspondent Rowan Quinn that close attention needs to be paid to stop outbreaks brewing in deprived areas, with higher rates of poverty or homelessness.

The opposition is putting pressure on the Government to go into Alert Level 2 ahead of today's Cabinet meeting.

Today Cabinet will decide whether the country will be able to move from Level 3 into Level 2 this week.

National's finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith told political reporter Charlie Dreaver the party has been pushing for the country to go into Alert Level 2 for weeks.

The Green Building Council is urging the government to invest in healthier homes in a bid to stimulate the economy in the wake of Covid-19.

The council says if the government was to adopt three main recommendations from its new report, there would be a net benefit of up to $3.5 billion to the economy, while creating jobs and improving people's health.

Its chief executive Andrew Eagles spoke to RNZ housing reporter Eva Corlett.