The Mike Hosking Breakfast

One in 12 critically ill Covid-19 patients could be saved after a discovery that two drugs, already used to treat other conditions, are also effective in treating the potentially deadly virus.
The drugs, which are both available in New Zealand and used as a "last resort" to treat rheumatoid arthritis, reduce the body's natural inflammatory response to the virus by modifying the immune system, speeding up recovery and reducing time needed in intensive care.
Globally, researchers found that 35.8 per cent of critically ill Covid patients went on to die but that dropped to 27.3 per cent for those treated with tocilizumab or sarilumab.
The discovery, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) today, has been described by Kiwi experts as another phenomenal step forward in combating the deadly virus.
"To find a second effective treatment for critically ill Covid-19 patients within a year of a global pandemic is remarkable," Auckland City Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) boss, Dr Colin McArthur, told the Herald.
It's also welcome news to an Auckland man who lost his 79-year-old mother to Covid last year and said it was frustrating watching doctors and nurses trying to look after her with "no weapon".
"They were helpless ... so yes this is great news. Who knows, maybe one of these drugs could have saved mum," said the man who did not want to be named.
Researchers stressed the two drugs needed to be used in addition to steroid treatments, one being dexamethasone which was found effective late last year.
Pharmac, which funds drugs for use in New Zealand, said it was now looking into whether tocilizumab funding should be extended so it could also be used here on our Covid patients.
Director of operations Lisa Williams said a clinician application to widen the access to tocilizumab for use in people hospitalised with Covid-19 was received yesterday.
"Pharmac will now seek expert clinical advice on this request, which will support an informed decision," Williams said.
McArthur, who has been leading New Zealand's input on behalf of the Medical Research Institute of NZ (MRINZ) since 2016, said New Zealand had limited supply of the inflammatory drugs and may need to order more if approval was granted.
Tocilizumab costs between $220 and $1,100 depending on the size of the dose, Pharmac said.
She said studies like these could place global pressure on products such as tocilizumab, and their suppliers so it was "critical" Pharmac followed up with suppliers on a regular basis.
"Currently, there are no known supply concerns for tocilizumab in New Zealand and we are monitoring stock closely; however, we will continue to follow up on a regular basis to ensure ongoing supply for New Zealand patients."
Covid-19 response minister Chris Hipkins declined to comment on the development at this stage and referred the Herald to the Ministry of Health.
A spokeswoman said the ministry was aware of international research into how these and other drugs may help treat Covid-19.
"In New Zealand, hospitals use dexamethasone for the treatment of Covid-19. Efficacy has been demonstrated for dexamethasone (a steroid) and it is approved for use in treating Covid-19 infection."
Remap-Cap (Randomised Embedded Multifactorial Adaptive Platform for Community Acquired Pneumonia) is leading the research and has involved the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and New Zealand.
A mum lost
A father-of-two remembers the look in his mum's eyes when he walked into her hospital room wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
"She recognised me. I could see it in her eyes," he said.
His wife couldn't be there to hold his hand because Covid-19 restrictions limited hospital visits to one person and only for special circumstances.
"Selfishly, I feel trapped, committed to coming here alone every day to watch helplessly as my mother ebbs away. The...

What a difference a week and a political mess with the tide going out makes.
For a Prime Minister who has become world famous, at least among liberal media outlets, for her be kind message, we now see the real operator with the almost uncontained frustration, if not anger, over the mess in South Auckland.
Not only are we dobbing each other in now, yesterday we got the details of the 15 times the government tried to contact case L. This is the KFC worker, the sister of the Papatoetoe High School student, and the one that wasn’t isolating.
Here is the trouble with all this, I get Ardern's upset, I would be upset. But then I haven't made my name huffing, puffing, and wringing my hands saying nothing apart from be kind.
That is her problem. To be successful you must be authentic, and Ardern isn't.
Despite what Stuff tried desperately to spin this week in what must be one of the wettest, most subservient pieces of puffery I have read in a long time. They managed to drum up a couple of department heads from the cloistered world of academia who seem to think Ardern was a good communicator because she is genuine. This just proves you can fool, at least, some of the people some of the time.
The trouble Ardern is in, is that you're either soft and fluffy, or you're not. You're either the cheerleader for the team of five million, or you're not. And the game she is now playing involves her dividing and conquering. She's pitting the South Auckland families against the rest of us, figuring we'll side with her because we are all over being locked down. And instead of border ineptness or lack of testing, we have a family to blame.
Not forgetting, of course, the start of all this most likely involved a mum at a border job that wasn’t tested because she wasn’t at work the day the once in 14-day tests were done. That still squarely sits with the government.
David Seymour is right. If you are going to play this dumb game, all records need to be released. Otherwise, we have a petty tit-for-tat spat going nowhere. The records won't be released. Why? Because the Ministry of Health has a record of ineptitude. Ask Sir Brian Roche or Heather Simpson.
That’s before you get to the one sidedness of this fight. The Prime Minister and the government machine against a couple of families who, although clearly at fault, probably don’t know what's hit them.
Ardern runs the risk now of looking like a bully. So, which is it? Are we being kind? Or are we picking fights?
Would the real Ardern please step forward? Or is the truth here, the real Ardern is whatever version that best suits the spin of the day. In other words, she's not authentic at all, she's Machiavellian.

There are no new community cases overnight as between 8000 and 9000 Kiwis have already been vaccinated, says Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins.
But the Government faces criticism that some of its pandemic communications have been too confusing and Covid tracing is not up to par.
Hipkins rejected suggestions on Newstalk ZB this morning that the continued lockdown was embarrassing when there were no new cases. He told broadcaster Mike Hosking it was "encouraging".
"I think we're back to where we were two weeks ago. Ultimately we want to get out of lockdown as soon as we can... we're working at speed to make sure we can get decisions as quick as we can," Hipkins said.
He said the last thing he wanted was to go back into lockdown.
He revealed "eight or nine thousand" people had been vaccinated already, this was ahead of schedule.
Frontline health workers would start getting their jabs this week.
Hipkins said contract tracing surged up and down and didn't necessarily hit the targets.
He said the metrics were designed to deal with ongoing events not ones that "pop up and pop down".
On managed isolation breaches, he said: "Some of these breaches are relatively minor; where they are more serious, we look at taking further action."
Some people "just stepped outside their rooms" and their breach was not an issue.
"There is no absolutely risk-free option," he said.
Hipkins rejected the idea of keeping all arrivals in their hotel rooms.
He said however MIQ was run, there was always going to be risk.
"We've dealt with fewer outbreaks than they've dealt with in Australia," he said, when Hosking made a comparison to the way MIQ was run over the ditch, arguably much more strict in areas.
Hipkins spoke about MIQ price rises. Some money was being chased from those who had been through isolation but generally people were paying.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Wednesday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Cracks Beginning to Show/This Is All Very Confusing/Good News-Bad News/Just Not Right Enough/Made Up Words

The OJ Simpson case continues to captivate people more than 25 years on from the famous not guilty verdict.
And one man who was at the forefront of it was former footballer and LAPD officer, Ron Shipp.
Ron was friends with OJ for 16 years, but testified against him at his trial.
Mr Shipp is part of a new documentary - OJ and Nicole: An American Tragedy which airs tonight at 9.25pm on Sky's new channel Investigation Discovery.
He joined Mike Hosking to talk about that famous trial.
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A Paris court found French former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling on Monday and sentenced him to a year in prison. He can ask to serve that time at home and also plans to appeal.
The 66-year-old, who was president from 2007 to 2012, was convicted of trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case in which he was implicated.
He will remain free while he appeals, but it was a blow to the retired politician who still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. It's not the end of his legal troubles either: He faces another trial later this month and is also under investigation in a third case.
The ruling marks the first time in France’s modern history that a former president has been convicted of corruption — and given a prison term. His predecessor, Jacques Chirac, was found guilty in 2011 of misuse of public money during his time as Paris mayor — not considered a corruption offense — and was given a two-year suspended prison sentence.
The court said Sarkozy is entitled to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet — as is the case for any sentence of two years or less. He also received a two-year suspended sentence — which he will not have to serve if he commits no new offense in the next five years.
Later, Sarkozy’s lawyer, Jacqueline Laffont, said he would appeal.
Sarkozy’s co-defendants — his lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog, 65, and now-retired magistrate Gilbert Azibert, 74 — were also found guilty and given the same sentence as the politician.
The court found that Sarkozy and his co-defendants sealed a “pact of corruption,” based on “consistent and serious evidence”.
The court said the case was “particularly serious” given that the acts were committed by a former president for his personal gain. In addition, as a lawyer by training, Sarkozy was “perfectly aware” that what he was doing was illegal, the court said.
Sarkozy did not deny offering to help Azibert get a job in Monaco — but he firmly refuted that he had done anything wrong during the 10-day trial at the end of last year.
Seated on a chair facing the judges and wearing a mask largely hiding his face, Sarkozy showed no reaction when the verdict was read out, and quickly left the courtroom.
“What insane harassment, my love,” his wife Carla Bruni said in a post on Instagram. “The fight goes on, truth will see the light.”
The trial focused on phone conversations that took place in February 2014.
At the time, investigative judges had launched an inquiry into the financing of Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign. During the investigation, they discovered that Sarkozy and Herzog were communicating via secret mobile phones registered to the alias “Paul Bismuth.”
Wiretapped conversations on those phones led prosecutors to suspect Sarkozy and Herzog of promising Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking information about another legal case involving Sarkozy.
In one phone call with Herzog, Sarkozy said of Azibert: “I’ll make him move up. ... I’ll help him.”
In another, Herzog reminded Sarkozy to “say a word” for Azibert during a trip to Monaco.
Azibert never got the Monaco job, and legal proceedings against Sarkozy have been dropped in the case he was seeking information about.
Prosecutors have concluded, however, that the “clearly stated promise” still constitutes corruption under French law, even if the promise wasn't fulfilled.
Laffont, Sarkozy's lawyer, argued the whole case was based on “idle chatter” between a lawyer and his client.
Sarkozy vigorously denied any malicious intention in his offer to help Azibert. He told the court that his political life was all about “giving (people) a little help. That all it is, a little help," he said during the trial.
He also complained that the confidentiality of communications between a lawyer and his client was...

Netball New Zealand has confirmed the Constellation Cup series between the Silver Ferns and Australian Diamonds will go ahead with all four tests played in Christchurch, closed to the general public.The Silver Ferns and Diamonds will meet at Christchurch Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday this week as scheduled, but crowds for the Constellation Cup, played as part of the Cadbury Netball Series, will not be permitted due to the re-emergence of COVID-19 in the community and change of alert levels around the country.The two tests which were to be played in Tauranga, on Saturday and Sunday, will now also be played in Christchurch to help minimise travel.
The White Ferns will host England in a three-match series at Sky Stadium. Photosport
NNZ Chief Executive Jennie Wyllie said it was extremely disappointing to make these decisions in what continued to be challenging times.
"We are hugely disappointed for our netball fans who were looking forward to seeing the world champion Silver Ferns take on their biggest rivals, the world number one Diamonds," she said.
"Our sporting landscape has changed and we must adapt and change with it. However, the priority for us will however always be the safety and wellbeing of the athletes, fans and all of those involved in the Cadbury Netball Series.
"The change in alert levels means we must follow the Ministry of Health guidelines regarding mass gatherings, which does not allow us to play in front of a crowd."

Mayors across the country are urging the Government to set up a formal inquiry into New Zealand banks closing branches in provincial communities.
Kiwibank is set to close seven of its branches over the next year, as more customers moving online to do their banking.
BNZ plans to close 38 branches.
South Wairarapa Mayor Alex Beijen, who wrote the letter and has rallied the support of others across the country, told Mike Hosking his district had experienced a "full withdrawal" of banking branches.
"An area of nearly 3000 sq/km without a single bank," he said.
Beijen is expected to pass the letter to a minister at a meeting at the Beehive this week.
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Prince Philip has been transferred to a specialised London heart hospital to undergo testing and observation for a pre-existing heart condition as he continues to be treated for an unspecified infection, Buckingham Palace said.
The 99-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II was moved from King Edward VII's Hospital, where he has been treated since Feb. 17, to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, which specializes in cardiac care.
The palace says Philip “remains comfortable and is responding to treatment but is expected to remain in hospital until at least the end of the week.’’
Philip was admitted to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London after feeling ill. Philip’s illness is not believed to be related to COVID-19. Both he and the queen, 94, received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine in early January.
The Bart’s Heart Centre is Europe’s biggest specialized cardiovascular center, the National Health Service said. The center seeks to perform more heart surgery, MRI and CT scans than any other service in the world.
Philip, who retired from royal duties in 2017, rarely appears in public. During England’s current coronavirus lockdown, Philip, also known as the Duke of Edinburgh, has been staying at Windsor Castle, west of London, with the queen.
Philip married the then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 and is the longest-serving royal consort in British history. He and the queen have four children, eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
In 2011, he was rushed to a hospital by helicopter after suffering chest pains and was treated for a blocked coronary artery. In 2017, he spent two nights in the hospital and he was hospitalized for 10 days in 2018 for a hip replacement.
Philip was last hospitalized in December 2019, spending four nights in the King Edward VII's Hospital for what the palace said was planned treatment of a pre-existing condition.

We haven't seen the property market correct itself yet, so the LVRs that came into place this week are yet to kick in obviously.
I'm joking.
There are more coming in May, all part of the mad scramble to somehow do what no one else has managed, gerrymander a market that, by in large, sorts itself out.
If you want to seriously affect prices, you open land up. They haven't, and they won't.
And the reality is most investors who seem to be the major target of the opprobrium are in fact just mums and dads with one house. That statistics last week showed us this, only six percent of players appear to have a handful of properties. So target investors all you want, boost LVRs, extend the bright-line test, but it will have a marginal affect at most.
We can build more houses. The New Zealand Initiative say we need about another 30,000 on top of the 40,000 we are already building. And in that latter number is the clue, we are building flat out, we don’t have the labour to build more, we don’t have the supplies, and that’s before you get to costs which are rising.
Westpac suggest house price rises this year of 17 percent. They're right. Whether it's 16, 17, 14 or 19 percent, prices are only going one way.
What will slow things is when money gets harder to afford, and/or prices get to a level of insanity. At that point the market will stall, in some areas possibly fall a bit.
But history is all you need to be able to see and tell this story. We have been here before, we have been here before a number of times. This current burst is a big one, but it's not unprecedented. Even though the times that drive it are.
The ones I feel most sorry for are the first timers. The deposit required now is absurd, but there in lies the trouble.
Our fear.
Because we don’t learn from history, because we are driven by this mad conviction that a bursting bubble is but days away, we don’t let first timers in the way we should.  Given the money is at two percent, it's the deposit that kills you, not the mortgage.
Make the mortgage smaller, make it five percent. Make it like Britain, Britain gets it. They’ve got the same issues we do, Australia has the same issues we do, the States has the same issues we do, property all over the closed world is in demand.
But five percent, beats 20 percent. Why don’t we get that? Because we are paranoid. Jaw boning the market and targeting the wrong people will get us where it got us previously, nowhere.
It's only doom and gloom if you’ve got the wrong mindset, and think failed polices are the answer.