The government must meet the protesters and listen to their concerns in order for the occupation of Parliament's grounds to be resolved, the former lead crisis negotiator for police says.

Damage from ex-tropical Cyclone Dovi has left people stranded in their homes, while power outages are affecting farms and schools.

Tonga no longer meets the criteria for quarantine-free travel due to increasing Covid-19 cases, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield announced this evening.

Restaurant operators say inconsistent messaging around isolation requirements is forcing many owners to close their doors.

A group that opposes the government's MIQ system and argues entering New Zealand is a 'foundational right' laid out their concerns today in the High Court.

Police say working collaboratively with anti-vaccine mandate protesters outside Parliament may be the best way to reduce disruption.

A man has been charged with murdering a 48-year-old woman, who was discovered dead at her home in the New Plymouth suburb of Vogeltown today.

A clinical psychologist who met abuse survivors of the Catholic-run Marylands School in Christchurch in the early 2000s believes the St John of God Order was in denial there was even a problem.

A Pasifika health expert says the number of Covid-19 cases and contacts isolating at home is already more than what health providers could keep up with in places like South Auckland.

People who are unlikely to have Covid-19 or who have not been advised to get tested risk being turned away from testing centres, Auckland public health officials say.

The Ministry of Health says "the further increase in new cases today is another reminder that, as expected, the highly transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in our communities as we have seen in other countries".

RNZ reporters say the streets are still blocked by cars and trucks that have been parked up illegally for days, and more tents are being set up in surrounding areas.

Four helicopters and two firefighting crews are battling a blaze at Lake Ohia, in the Far North.

Comment - We think of trees and soil as carbon sinks, but the world's oceans hold far larger carbon stocks and are more effective at storing carbon permanently.

Epidemiologist Michael Baker is warning the number of Covid-19 cases could be as much as 10 times the official figures.

The Health Ministry has launched a $1 million fund to attract former nurses back to the profession in the pandemic.

Police have crack negotiators on the job trying to end the occupation of Parliament's grounds, Wellington's police district commander says.

Principals say some schools and teachers are ignoring or misinterpreting the mask mandate for school children.