Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

Keeping Auckland's Covid boundary in place over Christmas could take a huge toll on tourism-dependent regions. The Government is working on plans to require people to prove their vaccination status and provide a negative Covid test each time they cross the border. But Covid Response Minister Chris Hipkins says no final decisions have been made on how it will work. Jereon Jongejans, the owner of Northland's Dive Tutukaka, told Kate Hawkesby if Aucklanders can't easily get in and out of the region, the rest of the country will suffer. He says it’s not sustainable. “If we, in Northland, don’t have the Auckland trade, I would say that 50% of the businesses will go broke.” LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.