Morning Report

Illegal community checkpoints on the East Coast are being credited for the low presence of Covid-19 in the region.

Gisborne has just one case of the virus, and experts say its strategy could be critical in preventing outbreaks in rural communities.

The mayor is so confident in the effort she wants the government to call in the army to help.

Mackenzie Smith reports.

The country's three major IT groups say they have been left out of the loop over picking the right technology for contact tracing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

This despite the consensus that rapid, mass tracing is the single most important thing New Zealand can do to get out of lockdown.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to Corin Dann.

Front-line emergency hospital staff should be wearing surgical masks at all times according to new guidelines being issued today.

The Australasian College of Emergency Medicine has updated its protocol after overseas evidence showed masks could help reduce transmission - especially between colleagues.

The college's president, John Bonning told our health correspondent, Rowan Quinn, that even if patients are in the Emergency Department for a completely different reason, and have no symptoms, health staff should still be wearing masks.

The country's three major IT groups have been left out of the loop by the Government in the race to speed up contact tracing of Covid-19 carriers

This despite the consensus that rapid, mass tracing is the single most important thing New Zealand can do to get out of lockdown.

Phil Pennington reports.

The Queen has made a special address on the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is only the fifth time she has broadcast to the nation and the Commonwealth.

The others being the beginning of the land war in Iraq in 1991; the death of Diana, Princess of Wales; the death of the Queen mother; and a brief message of thanks after the celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

She is expected to acknowledge the grief, pain and financial difficulties Britons and those around the world are facing.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

The National Party says small businesses are being hit hard by the lockdown, when many could continue to work safely.

.Todd McClay is the party's economic development spokersperson.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

The IT industry fears the Health Ministry is adopting contact tracing technology that is too slow to keep up with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Health Ministry says it has repurposed its existing technology to improve tracing, and is also working with IT firms.

The ministry's national tracing centre has contacted on average 400 people a day who've had close contact in the past fortnight with an infected person.

That is rising, and recently hit 700 a day - or about 10 contacts for each confirmed or probable Covid-19 case.

Oxford University researchers have concluded the virus is too fast to be contained by manual contact tracing - they recommend using apps.

The New Zealand Technology Industry Association chief executive Graeme Muller told RNZ reporter Phil Pennington the Health Ministry appears to be slow off the mark.

As the country approaches the halfway point of a month-long lockdown the Government is turning its attentions to an exit plan.

While the level four lockdown appears to be having some success, Jacinda Ardern says it's essential people still stick rigidly to the rules.

She's called those blatantly flouting the restrictions, idiots, and again warned a lack of compliance will end in arrest.

RNZ political reporter Jo Moir has the story.

News from the rural and farming sector.