Morning Report

Level 2 also means a relaxation for sports, with many able to resume.

Dave Porteous is from Bowls Hastings, eagerly preparing for reopening.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

Churches will be able to open their doors and allow their members back in for Sunday services. But only if the congregation is fewer than a hundred people.

Chris Bethwaite is the National Administrator for the Elim Church of New Zealand.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

Those living in aged care facilities will be able to have friends and family visit them once we reach Alert Level 2, if they follow strict rules.

New screening criteria have also been introduced for those being admitted to stay in an aged care facilities, which will trigger testing for Covid-19 if they have any risk factors.

The Aged Care Association represents about 90 percent of facilities in the country providing care for the elderly, and helped design both guidelines.

Chief executive Simon Wallace speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Teachers and lecturers can now start planning for the return of more than a million children and tertiary students under Alert Level 2.

The Education Ministry says children shouldn't touch or breathe on one another, but social distancing rules will be greatly relaxed.

Deidre Shea is the president of the Secondary Principals Association and is the principal of Onehunga High School.

She speaks to Susie Ferguson.

The change to Alert Level 2 will mean restaurants can have sit-down diners again.

Raechal Ferguson is co-owner of Wellington restaurant Field and Green.

She speaks to Kim Hill.

News that people will be be able to travel around the country under Alert Level 2 is a huge boost for the tourism industry.

Cabinet will decide on Monday if and when Alert Level 3 will end, but in the meantime details of what that would look like have been released.

The Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, says domestic tourism will be possible as long as Covid-19 risks are minimised at destinations. Mark Rose is general manager of the Rees Hotel in Queenstown.

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Life may look very different if the country moves to Alert Level 2 next week, but not all of the changes flagged by the Prime Minister may happen all at once.

Jacinda Ardern says with such a big change there could be a phased approach, with riskier activities delayed a bit longer.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says the phasing of Level 2 will be kept to a minimum.

Paul Goldsmith is the National Party spokesperson for finance.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

The borders will still remain closed under Level 2 - and that is keeping international university students out.

The Education Minister, Chris Hipkins, has challenged universities and polytechnics to come up with a quarantine system tough enough to allow the foreign students back into the country.

Grant Guilford is the Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington.

He speaks to Kim Hill.

An Australian woman says her attempt to get an exemption to the New Zealand travel ban so she could visit her dying mother has left her feeling distraught and disrespected.

The Sydney resident applied for the exemption on humanitarian grounds on 1 April, but it wasn't approved until 16 April by which time her mother had died.

RNZ reporter Robin Martin reports.

The General Manager of Border and Visa Operations, Nicola Hogg, says Immigration New Zealand is unable to comment on the specific circumstances of this case without the woman's details, as well as a privacy waiver which was not provided to RNZ at the request of the woman.

Hogg says, however, that if the situation is as described by the woman, this has been a truly terrible experience for the individual and INZ apologises for that.

She says the woman's request appears to have been lodged on the first day of the border exemptions process being put in place and that may have been a factor in the delay.

In the first week of the exemptions process being in place, INZ received 2,093 requests.

On average, the processing of requests received on April 1 took three working days.

Covid-19 has been found inside the White House for the first time.

A US military valet responsible for attending to the President's personal needs in the Oval Office has tested positive for the virus.

The President and Vice President have both since been tested, and both results came back negative.

The White House says they remain in "great health".

Washington correspondent Simon Marks speaks to Kim Hill.