New Zealand recorded another 83 cases today, while epidemiologist Michael Baker warned the country will not see a return to level 1 "as we know it". Discover the latest Covid-19 news in our daily summary.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke at today's 1pm press conference about mental health and support services in the community.

Conservation groups aren't ruling out the possibility a pod of orca in a Wellington inlet could be the family of Toa, the orca that died in July.

More than 100 people have been charged with breaching the current lockdown rules, including a woman accused of forging an exemption document. Show how the rest of the day's news developed with RNZ's blog.

Sightings of leopard seals have spiked during the level 4 lockdown.

The Māori Party has launched a petition against any more Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facilities opening in Rotorua.

Intelligence systems meant to back up investigations into identity fraud, money laundering and other threats became so degraded at the Department of Internal Affairs that most staff avoided using them.

There are 83 new community cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, with 34 people now in hospital. Watch the latest government briefing here.

Two youths have been taken into custody after an early morning crime spree across Christchurch.

The government is being urged to push for the safe passage of anyone who is eligible to get out of Afghanistan but is stranded there, now the Taliban have taken control.

Firefighters have extinguished a large blaze at a medical centre in the Bay of Plenty town of Ōpōtiki.

A major government ministry has hauled back on extremely high rates of staff churn.

Police called to an accident at a Queenstown mountain bike park found more than 50 bikers using the track.

The number of new community Covid-19 cases jumped to 82 today, while 25 people are in hospital with the virus including two who are in a stable condition in intensive care.

Hundreds of community projects will suffer because no money is going into pokies during lockdown, an official says.

A woman who made a false allegation of rape against her former partner in a "sustained and clinical course of deception" has won a reprieve from deportation.

An error at a vaccination centre in Canterbury earlier this month meant 13 people may have received a lower dose of the Covid-19 vaccine than intended, the Health Ministry has confirmed.

More than two dozen people are in hospital, Covid-19 case numbers continue to rise and an Auckland childcare centre is named as a place of interest. See how the day's Covid-19 news developed with RNZ's live blog.