Morning Report

Further tests have confirmed none of the passengers evacuated from Wuhan are infected with the Novel Coronavirus.

Nearly 160 people rescued from the Chinese city are settling in for their two week stay, under quarantine, at the military base in the Auckland suburb of Whangaparāoa.

At a community meeting last night health officials said if anyone under quarantine tested positive, their time at the base will be extended.

Mackenzie Smith was at the meeting.

There have been a number of developments overnight in the spread of the Novel Coronavirus.

In China, the doctor who was one of the first to warn about the Novel Coronavirus only to be silenced by the police has reportedly died.

Li Wenliang was working as an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital when he sent out a warning to fellow doctors in late December.

Police then visited him to tell him to stop, as authorities tried to keep the news under wraps.

Also in China, authorities say a newborn baby has tested positive for the the virus. The baby's mother tested positive before she gave birth on February.

In Japan authorities are treating a New Zealander infected with the virus.

The patient - who is the first New Zealand citizen to test positive for the illness - was taken off the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama and is currently in a local hospital.

Twenty passengers including the yet un-named New Zealander who were on the cruise ship have now been diagnosed with the virus.

Around 3700 people remain quarantined on the ship and will remain on the boat for at least 14 days.

Another cruise ship with 3,600 passengers and crew has been quarantined in Hong Kong with three cases on board.

Some residents of Mataura are returning to their homes after flooding caused the town to be evacuated on Wednesday.

Heavy rain caused the local river to swell to dangerous levels, inundating properties and threatening to do so to the local paper mill, which was storing a chemical that produces ammonia gas if it gets wet.

Alison Bishop is a Mataura resident who had to evacuate on Wednesday morning due to the flooding.

She speaks to Susie Ferguson.

Some Mataura residents are heading home after flooding hit the town on Wednesday.

The local river swelled due to heavy rain and threatened to burst its flood defences, forcing the evacuation of low-lying areas of of Gore, Mataura and Wyndham.

Pictures from the region show properties surrounded by brown water.

Jon Pemberton is a dairy farmer in Brydone, near Mataura.

He speaks to Corin Dann.

Some Mataura residents have returned home only to discover they face a massive clean-up job.

The town had been a no-go zone for two days amid fears of flooding and the potential release of toxic ammonia gas from a mothballed paper mill.

The cordon was finally lifted yesterday evening, but some locals were shocked to discover their houses surrounded by floodwater.

RNZ reporter Katie Todd was in Mataura not long after the cordon was lifted.

The Crusaders coach Scott Robertson is confident David Havili's big match experience will see him through tomorrow night's super rugby derby match against the Chiefs in Hamilton.

News from the business sector, including a market report.

President Trump has hinted he will move to make impeachments harder to pursue in his first remarks since being acquitted of impeachment.

Speaking at a national prayer breakfast a short time ago Trump described the impeachment process as a terrible ordeal.

Washington correspondent Josh Gerstein speaks to Corin Dann.

The Māori Party President says it now has a strong preference for Labour because part of the reason they lost their place in Parliament was the long relationship with National.

National's leader Simon Bridges has been talking about a "resurgent Māori Party" as a potential post-election partner, as it looks for friends and allies.

Māori Party President Che Wilson told our political editor, Jane Patterson, his party's only strategy is winning one or more seats.

Simon Bridges was approached for comment but declined.

Alison and George Bishop returned to their Mataura home last night to find their home under a metre of water.

Matuara was the last evacuated town to be reopened in Southland after the Mataura River flooded on Wednesday morning.

The cordon was finally lifted yesterday evening.

The Bishops live on Bristol Street and had recently renovated their old villa for their retirement.

Alison Bishop told RNZ reporter Sarah Robson it's not the first time the house has been flooded.