The Wire with Manny

This week on the Wednesday Wire, Zazi Hewlett and Frances Wright are once again working remotely from home as the country remains in Level 4 Lockdown, with Jemima hosting the show and bringing us the news. 

The show kicks off with Frances speaking to Tali Willliams, who is the Secretary for Retail, Finance and Commerce at FIRST Union, discussing the impact that the New Zealand lockdown has had on supermarket workers.

Frances also has her regular segment Dear Science with Marcus Jones. They discuss the waning effectiveness of COVID vaccines against the Delta variant; talk about massive volcanoes which could cool earth; and then last but not least talk about a genetic pattern thay offers clues about the evolution of homosexuality. 

Zazi then speaks to Kerri Nuku from the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO), as well as a Senior Nurse who is working through the Level 4 Lockdown, about nurses and other health care workers working in the renewed COVID-19 climate. They discuss safety measures, understaffing and what the public can do to show their support to all health care workers.  

Finally Zazi has her regular catch-up with ACT's Brooke van Velden, this week talking about the Parliament sittings being suspended for the week as well as an update on Brooke’s opinion regarding Level 4 Lockdown.

Since the current Level 4 Lockdown began this time last week, supermarket workers around the country have been under pressure from a continual stream of customers and high stock demands.

This morning, Frances spoke with Tali Williams, Secretary for Retail, Finance and Commerce at FIRST Union, the Union that represents many of the country’s supermarket workers.

They spoke about the pressure supermarket workers are under and the Union’s push for Living Wage for essential workers. Frances began by asking what life is like for supermarket workers at the moment.

This week on Dear Science, Frances was joined by AUT professor Marcus Jones where they talked about the effectiveness of COVID vaccines against Delta, massive volcanoes cooling the earth, and the genetic pattern which offers clues to the evolution of homosexuality.

Lockdown is a particularly difficult time for the elderly community. It can be very lonely for people and it becomes even harder to access the services like the supermarket, the pharmacy or the doctor.

News and Editorial Director Jemima Huston wanted to find out how we can support the older people in our lives and make sure that everyone gets through lockdown as best they can. She interviewed Kevin Lamb, the CEO of Age Concern Auckland, and Dr Hamish Jamieson, a Geriatrician with the University of Otago, for them to provide some advice on this. They discuss how lockdown has impacted older people in the past, whether the vaccine roll out has alleviated anxieties around Covid-19 and how people can support elderly people. 

If you need support during lockdown or want to help out, you can head to www.ageconcernauckland.org.nz or call Age Concern Auckland on 09 820 0184 or 09 489 4975. 

If you want help from the Student Volunteer Army with grocery delivery, head to shop.sva.org.nz or call 09 801 2122 if you’re in Auckland. If you want to volunteer you can download the Student Volunteer Army App on your phone or contact help@sva.org.nz.