Morning Report

Residents living in the Dunedin suburb of Burnside were warned to stay indoors with their windows shut this morning, after a rubbish fire started to emit toxic fumes.

Fire crews had been battling the fire since Saturday, but now have it contained.

Reporter Tim Brown is on the scene.

Wairarapa farmers are ecstatic after a bought of heavy rain hit the drought stricken region over the weekend. Local Federated Farmers president William Beetham labelled it a game changer.

The region had been classed as "extremely dry" and a large scale adverse event declared across the country due to the lack of rain.

NIWA meteorologist Chris Brandolino speaks to Corin Dann about it.

A Wairarapa farmer says heavy rain that fell over the weekend will be a "gamechanger" for the drought-stricken region.

Wairarapa is classified as "extremely dry" and a large-scale adverse event has been declared to battle ongoing drought conditions across the country.

William Beetham is Federated Farmers' Wairarapa president.

He speaks to Susie Ferguson.

The Director-General of Health is expecting more cases of community transmission to come to light this week.

That's despite a dip in the number of new cases reported yesterday.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield speaks to Corin Dann.

The Easter Trading Laws could be amended to let supermarkets stay open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, days where they are normally forced to stay closed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Susie Ferguson it depends on whether supermarkets need the time shut to restock shelves, but the government will be talking to them directly about the issue.

She expects to have more to share on the issue within the next 48 hours.

New Zealand has 514 cases of Covid-19, with one death and 56 recovered.

Let's look more at the numbers.

University of Auckland Professor Shaun Hendy speaks to Corin Dann.

Medical staff from Canterbury are heading to the West Coast to help after 21 health workers from Greymouth's hospital had to go into isolation.

They had been treating the 70-year-old woman who yesterday became the country's first Covid-19 fatality.

The woman was initially misdiagnosed as having the flu so those who treated her did not wear the full Covid-19 protective gear.

RNZ health correspondent Rowan Quinn speaks to Susie Ferguson.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

The $5 billion foreign student industry is facing a massive downturn with as many as half of this year's enrolements now in doubt.

Visa figures indicate only 60,000 of the nearly 120,000 international students who come to New Zealand each year made it into the country before lockdown.

Some are already leaving and there are grave fears thousands of students expected later in the year will never come.

RNZ education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.

Those over 70 and people with underlying health conditions were the first to feel the brunt of the lockdown, being told to stay home four days before the rest of the country.

Overseas experience has shown these two groups are the most at risk of dying from Covid-19.

New Zealand now has its own first victim of the virus after a West Coast woman in her 70s with a chronic health condition died at the weekend.

But are our seniors getting the message to stay home?

RNZ political reporter Jo Moir investigates.