An Auckland Hospital nurse says his colleagues are working extra shifts or doing different jobs as Covid-19 takes a toll on staffing and case numbers rise.

Lawyers for the families of people killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks have told a hearing a coronial inquiry must examine the country's defective gun licensing regime.

The advertising watchdog is looking into a billboard using the image of a Dunedin man who died after getting a Covid-19 vaccine.

The demand is causing a delay to process tests in the lab, with the DHB saying some tests may take up to seven days for a result.

The flood-damaged Heaphy Bridge on the Heaphy Track has been written off by structural engineers and cannot be fixed.

The Northland DHB says a field hospital in its pandemic plan is "extremely unlikely" to be used.

There are 2846 Covid-19 cases in the community today and 143 people in hospital with the virus, the Ministry of Health reports.

The government is being urged to remove any impediments facing Long Covid sufferers seeking financial support after Air New Zealand declined injury cover to a sufferer it made redundant.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says violence has been seen at the protest in Wellington but the behaviour and attacks on police in the past couple of days has been 'absolutely disgraceful".

The government has classified ex-cyclone Dovi as a medium-scale adverse event, making $200,000 of funding available to help recovering efforts.

Police have launched a homicide investigation after a man was shot dead at a residential address in Nelson today.

Wellington's only emergency ambulance service will no longer attend emergencies within the protest area at Parliament.

One of the people funding the Parliament protest says it makes no sense to maintain a quarantine system at the border now that Covid-19 cases are rife in the community.

Cases of Covid-19 among children and teachers are forcing schools to roster entire year groups home or offer online learning for those who want it.

Children's Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers says the anti-mandate protest on Parliament grounds is no place for children who could be harmed in escalating tension.

At nine-minutes to 1PM today, it will be 11 years since a devastating earthquake struck Canterbury, killing 185 people.

The Buller District Council says Westport and Carters Beach residents should boil all water before drinking and using it for food preparation, until further notice.

The decision was made at a high-level meeting yesterday, with the situation expected to continue for four weeks at two Auckland hospitals.