Covid-19 restrictions for all of New Zealand will ease from midnight tonight but a leading epidemiologist says the country is divided over its risk

From 11.59pm tonight, all of New Zealand moves into the orange traffic light setting, Covid-19 Reponse Minister Chris Hipkins announced today.

He said the change in alert levels was justified for several reasons, including an ongoing decline in cases.

He said case numbers now sit below 10,000 new cases per day for the first time since February 24, and that hospitalisations in Auckland were lower, with all three DHBs each reporting fewer than 100 patients for the first time since late February.

Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker told RNZ Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan the move was reasonable for Auckland, which peaked almost six weeks ago.

“But that’s not the situation in the rest of New Zealand and particularly the South Island, even some DHBs in the North Island, like Northland and some of the others in the central North Island, are still seeing case numbers reported yesterday that were about 50 percent of their peak.

“So we are quite divided in terms of risk.”

Face masks out in schools
Under the orange setting, face masks are still required in some environments but not in schools.

Professor Baker said that with only 20 percent of younger students fully vaccinated, without masks there are not many barriers that stopped the virus circulating.

“And we do know anecdotally a lot of the way this virus is getting from one family to another is through transmission at school so this seems like a gap at the orange level.”

Hipkins said schools have been provided with guidance, and they have access to public health guidance so they can consider the advice for themselves.

“Ultimately looking at a school by school basis, in some schools there is still a very strong justification for masks — but not all.

“It is very challenging for schools, it has proven to be one of the most challenging covid-19 requirements.”

People who are young, healthy, fully vaccinated and boosted should be getting out much more because the risk from the infection is much less, Professor Baker said.

High vaccine coverage
“We know now of high vaccine coverage, we’ve actually pushed the fatality rate from this infection now to down to less than, it’s about 0.05 percent which is in a similar range now to seasonal flu — but it’s only because we’re highly vaccinated.”

Prior to vaccination there was a fatality risk of 0.5 percent, he said.

Te Pūnaha Matatini modeller Professor Michael Plank said: “It’s a good time to be relaxing the traffic light settings when cases and hospitalisations are declining in almost all parts of the country.”

Professor Plank is partly funded by the Department of Prime Minister and cabinet for research on mathematical modelling of covid-19.

“We have successfully flattened the curve of this Omicron wave — although hospitalisations and staff absences have put intense strain on our healthcare system, things would have been even worse without our efforts to slow the spread.”

While New Zealand is marking the end of its omicron sprint, it is at the beginning of its marathon, Professor Baker said.

“Covid-19 isn’t going to go away and we are very likely to have further waves of infection as immunity wanes, people’s behaviour gets back to normal, and new variants arrive,” he said.

“As we move away from restrictions and mandates, we need to work on a long-term, sustainable set of mitigations. This should include vaccines, high-quality surveillance systems, a focus on clean air indoors, and financial support for people to isolate when sick.”

Hybrid office/home set-up
With a change in restrictions, Victoria University of Wellington and Umbrella Wellbeing clinical psychologist Dr Dougal Sutherland says the government will no longer encourage working from home.

But Dr Sutherland warned there may be psychological consequences for workplaces encouraging their people to return in person.

Flexibility and agility will be key for adjusting to this new normal, he said.

“It seems likely many people will continue working from home, at least some of the time.

“This presents a challenge to organisations about how they create psychologically safe teams in a dispersed environment. There is also the challenge of how to support people with different levels of anxiety associated with increased human contact.

“Research shows that allowing people to work from home a few days a week is associated with better wellbeing and productivity, so allowing workers to continue a hybrid office/home set-up should be encouraged.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Health workers in Aotearoa New Zealand are thanking Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield for his work stopping the ailing health system from collapsing in the covid-19 pandemic — and for saving lives.

They say they can relate to him needing a rest.

Dr Bloomfield leaves his job in July, stepping down 12 months early after the huge stress of the past two years.

There are few public servants who have had the same degree of fame.

For two years he has been a regular in the living rooms of the country, particularly in the first lockdown when almost everyone was home turning in every day to hear news of the covid-19 threat.

Emergency doctor and chair of the Council of Medical Colleges Dr John Bonning said Dr Bloomfield had to step up to communicate with the public in a role that would normally have been done by politicians.

He exuded trust and had stellar public health credentials, as a medical doctor who had worked for the World Health Organisation and headed a district health board (DHB), Dr Bonning said.

Engaged and communicated
He engaged and communicated very regularly with health worker groups.

“He felt the pain, he felt the pressure along with the rest of us,” he said.

Frontline GP and chair of the Pacific GP Network Api Talemaitoga said the country was lucky to have a director-general with top public health skills when they were needed most.

That meant Dr Bloomfield understood the practicalities of what had to be done — like limiting numbers, mass masking, vaccination programmes and the importance of communication, he said.

Covid-19 Minister Chris Hipkins said Dr Bloomfield’s advice had been at the heart of the government’s decision making and he “had saved thousands if not tens of thousands of lives”.

But not everything was perfect under his tenure. There was a blunder that meant high-risk border workers were not being routinely tested as promised, criticisms about spread in MIQ facilities, delays at times over testing, and a slow vaccine rollout for Māori.

Delays over Māori health autonomy
Te Whānau O Waiapareira chief executive John Tamihere said the director-general had done a decent job but he was uncomfortable with the “idolatry” that had sprung up around him.

He had called Dr Bloomfield out over the past two years on issues like the delays giving Māori health groups autonomy to look after their communities, and of the ministry’s initial failure to hand over health data.

It would be mean-spirited to criticise Dr Bloomfield on his way out, he said.

He was a highly-paid public servant who had done a decent job, particularly for mainstream New Zealand, but his copybook was not completely clean, Tamihere said.

“But … Dr Bloomfield will go down as leading a great result when compared with other nations,” he said.

Pacific health groups had shared the concerns about not initially being able to lead the response for their communities, who bore the brunt of early waves of the virus.

Privy to the big picture
GP Dr Api Talemaitoga said while that was frustrating, he and his colleagues on the frontline were not always privy to the big picture Dr Bloomfield was dealing with “in terms of the whole country, the ministry, and his political masters”.

Senior emergency doctor Dr Kate Allan represents the College of Emergency Medicine and said Dr Bloomfield inherited a “broken health system” but led a response that stopped it from collapsing under the weight of covid-19.

“I take my hat off to him. I think it’s been an amazing job and an incredibly difficult job and I can’t imagine how tired he must be,” she said.

Dr Bloomfield is, in turn, quick to credit people like Dr Allan who worked on the frontline to battle the virus.

‘Relentless’
The director-general of health was one of three top health chiefs to announce their resignations yesterday.

Director of Public Health Caroline McElnay and Deputy Director of Public Health Niki Stefanogiannis are also leaving the ministry.

Health Minister Andrew Little told RNZ Morning Report they had been at the forefront of the covid-19 response and had worked tirelessly. “As Ashley said to me in the weekend, he is just exhausted.”

Thousands of front line health workers had done a phenomenal job and would be feeling the same after two years of the pandemic, he said.

There was still work to be done in terms of the rebuild and the nationwide health restructure “because we’ve got to create that extra capacity.”

“I am committed to filling the gaps that are there.”

‘Saved thousands of lives’
Epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson said the key leadership group including Dr Bloomfield, the prime minister, senior ministers and others “saved thousands of lives, it saved our health services”.

“The work that they did over the past couple of years, it’s just relentless.” Jackson said. “I’m amazed that they lasted so long.”

All three were there at the most important stage but it was “a bit worrying” they were leaving. “The next phase is going to be messy, it’s going to be more political.”

However, New Zealand had “fantastic” vaccines and the knowledge on how to slow down and contain a pandemic.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Some residents of the area around New Zealand’s Parliament in the capital Wellington are worried about leaving their houses with protesters outside, while police say they will clamp down on any abusive behaviour.

Protesters have been occupying Parliament’s lawn and surrounding areas for close to two weeks.

The growing frustration with the protesters comes as 111,000 people have signed a petition calling for an end to the anti-mandates occupation, the indigenous National Māori Authority has organised a counter-protest and new covid-19 cases have hit a record 2522 today as the omicron variant spreads.

Today’s 100 people in hospital was also the largest total of the outbreak.

According to RNZ data, hospitalisations hit highs of 93 cases twice in November.

In 2020’s first covid-19 outbreak, the highest number of people in hospital at one time was 89.

None of the 100 hospital cases announced today were in intensive care units. The hospital cases are mostly in Auckland, but there are also cases in Waikato, Tauranga, Rotorua and Tairāwhiti.

Number in hospital grows
The number of people in hospital has been growing steadily all week as new cases rose, and has tripled since 32 people were in hospital on February 13.

According to the Ministry of Health’s website, as of February 19 a total of 836 people had been hospitalised during the pandemic, and 69 people were in ICU care.

A Hill St resident who asked not to be named said the protest had spread further so he was now living in the middle of it.

During the occupation, he said protesters had tried to remove his housemate’s mask, and other residents had been verbally abused for wearing one, including himself.

The protest appeared to be “anti-everything covid”, not just anti-mandate, he said.

“If it was a more nuanced protest around mandates, you’d see people wearing masks. The reality is there’s nobody wearing masks there.

“It’s a complete denial of the risk of covid whatsoever, which is really concerning. I’d feel a lot more comfortable if people were wearing masks.”

The resident has been going to his work every day to avoid being around the protest and said his neighbours had also gone away.

He didn’t feel entirely safe having to walk past and through hundreds of unmasked people to get home, he said.

Policing being strengthened
In a statement tonight, New Zealand police said that they were strengthening the policing of abusive behaviour around the protest, as well as traffic management and road traffic controls.

“Regular reassurance patrols of local businesses have been increased,” police said.

“Staff have also been instructed to take a zero-tolerance approach to any abuse, intimidation or violence against members of the public.”

Police said there would be an increased presence around the start and end of each day.

“Anyone abusing or intimidating members of the public can expect to be arrested, removed and face charges,” they said.

The Wellington Hill St resident wanted protesters to wear a mask, for the streets to be cleared so people could walk freely without harassment, and for protesters to stick to the lawns of Parliament.

“I am furious about the occupation of the bus exchange, I mean it’s a parking lot campsite now.

Standstill of public infrastructure
“That doesn’t affect the politicians. It’s not going to change anyone’s view on mandates, all it creates is a complete standstill of public infrastructure in Wellington. It’s nothing but disruptive.”

While he wanted to see the streets cleared, he was concerned that he could end up in the middle of a riot if the police stepped in.

“If we see the break out of a riot — which I think if police do eventually move in is a real possibility — it will be instigated by those more extreme people, but the reality of mob rule and people who feel pissed off is that they will join in.

“And all of a sudden, we will be right in the middle of a riot.”

Residents were contacted by the protesters about a week ago to see if they’d allow a medical tent to be set up in garages or a back garden who they told to contact the public health service, he said.

“If we were having a party on the street, A – it would get shut down, and B – it wouldn’t be masking over that more like dangerous underbelly of the whole thing whereby people are still being abused.”

Police said that parked vehicles around the protest area had swelled to approximately 2000 on Saturday, with about 800 of those illegally parked. A small number of vehicles were towed.

‘Positive’ engagement
Police said engagement with protest leaders had been “positive” over the weekend.

“Security and safety” were the focus of talks, police said in their statement.

Meanwhile, a counter protest is being launched in response to the Parliament occupation.

If like me you are sick of the #Wellington #nz protest then come.join me. I’m standing up to these so called #freedom grafters #endtheprotest #newzealand #aotearoa pic.twitter.com/I5Ktt66mLP

— Matthew Tukaki (@tukakimatt) February 19, 2022

Matthew Tukaki from the National Māori Authority said an overwhelming number of people had been in touch with him saying they had had enough.

He said the vast number of Wellingtonians were fed up with the disruption to their lives, the abuse and the desecration of the memories of servicemen and women.

Tukaki said it would be an online protest without confrontation, intimidation, abuse or threatening behaviour.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Almost 30 community leaders of New Zealand’s capital Wellington have banded together to urge an immediate end of the illegal protest activities at Parliament.

Among those who have signed the joint statement are the region’s mayors, MPs, principals and business leaders.

The letter says Wellingtonians and city workers have been “intimidated” by protesters, and some residents have reported being “too distressed and frightened to leave their homes”.

A number of businesses have had to close to protect staff.

The community leaders say the people of Wellington have had enough of this illegal anti-mandates activity and it is time for the harassment and disruption to end.

Record 1929 new community cases
The Ministry of Health today reported a record 1929 new community cases of covid-19 in New Zealand.

In a statement, the ministry said 1384 of the new cases were in the Auckland district health boards (DHBs), with the remaining cases in Northland (13), Waikato (155), Bay of Plenty (58), Lakes (9), Hawke’s Bay (17), MidCentral (3), Whanganui (11), Taranaki (9), Tairāwhiti (8), Wairarapa (5), Capital and Coast (28), Hutt Valley (50), Nelson Marlborough (60), Canterbury (35), South Canterbury (7) and Southern (77).

There are 73 people in hospital with the coronavirus, with one in ICU. Seven of the cases are in Waikato Hospital, with others in Auckland, Rotorua, Tauranga, Wellington, Tairawhiti and MidCentral hospitals.

The previous record of 1573 new community cases was reported yesterday, 1140 of them in Auckland.

There were also 18 cases reported at the border today.

There have now been 26,544 cases of covid-19 in New Zealand since the pandemic began.

‘Resolution opportunity’ passed over
Meanwhile, former New Conservative leader Leighton Baker said politicians had had an opportunity to resolve the Parliament protest eight days ago.

“They never did anything and the longer they leave it, the bigger it gets. The responsibility is on their shoulders to talk to the people.

“You’ve got to talk to the people. The ball’s in their court.”

Baker describes himself as an “intermediary” — not a protest leader.

As the protest continues, Wellington transport operator Metlink is receiving more reports of people not wearing masks on its trains and busses.

It said its frontline workers were not expected to risk their own health and safety by enforcing mask wearing.

Wellington City Council has increased security around the city after a spike in verbal abuse and aggression against members of the public.

Increasing incidents of aggression
The council said retail workers had reported increasing incidents of maskless customers and of people becoming aggressive when asked to put a mask on.

Close to the protest site, the owner of a cafe and catering business on Molesworth Street says patronage is well below normal because customers can not park nearby and cafe regulars are all working from home.

The Word of Mouth Cafe and Catering owner said while it had remained open since the protest began, staff were working reduced hours and some had taken leave because there was no work for them to do.

No-one had been rude and tried to enter without a mask or vaccine passport, but the presence of protesters was greatly affecting her customer base, the owner said.

Suppliers were also reluctant to come in, with some who used to come every day now reducing that to every second or third day.

The full letter:
“We the undersigned ask that the current illegal protest activities in and around the Parliament precinct end immediately. There is a right to peaceful protest in New Zealand that it is important to uphold. However, this protest has gone well beyond that point.

“Those who live, work and go to school and university have been subjected to significant levels of abuse and harassment when attempting to move about in the area. There has been intimidation to Wellingtonians and city workers, and some residents have reported being too frightened or distressed to leave their homes.

“The vehicles associated with the protest are illegally blocking roads that are preventing Wellingtonians moving freely, including using public transport, posing a risk to the movement of emergency services, and are severely disrupting businesses. A number of businesses have had to close to protect their staff, while for others customers cannot access these businesses. The [Victoria] University has needed to close its Pipitea campus, disrupting teaching and learning.

“Police have issued trespass notices for those on Parliamentary and university grounds. We remind the protesters this city and these streets are those of Wellingtonians who have the right to access them freely and without fear.

“The people of Wellington have had enough of this illegal activity, harassment and disruption, we ask that it end immediately.”

Alex Beijen — South Wairarapa Mayor

Andy Foster — Wellington City Mayor

Anita Baker — Porirua City Mayor

Barbara McKerrow — Wellington City Council CEO

Bernadette Murfitt — Principal Sacred Heart School Thorndon

Campbell Barry — Hutt City Mayor

Daran Ponter — on behalf of Metlink

Fleur Fitzsimons — Wellington City Councillor

Grant Guildford — Vice-Chancellor, Victoria University of Wellington

Grant Robertson — MP for Wellington Central [and deputy Prime Minister]

Greg Lang — Carterton District Mayor

James Shaw — Green List MP based in Wellington

Jenny Condie — Wellington City Councillor

John Allen — CEO Wellington NZ

Julia Davidson — Principal, Wellington Girls College

K. Gurunathan — Kapiti District Mayor

Kerry Davies — Secretary of the Public Service Association

Laurie Foon — Wellington City Councillor

Lyn Patterson — Masterton District Mayor

Murray Edridge — Wellington City Missioner

Nicola Young — Wellington City Councillor

Paul Retimanu — director of Manaaki Management and president of Hospitality Wellington, New Zealand

Rebecca Matthews — Wellington City Councillor

Sarah Free — Wellington City Deputy Mayor

Simon Arcus — Wellington Chamber of Commerce CEO

Tamatha Paul — Wellington City Councillor

Teri O’Neill — Wellington City Councillor

Wayne Guppy — Upper Hutt City Mayor

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one.

They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took them off once inside.

Pandemic Controller David Manning has again emphasised that the mandatory wearing of masks is one of the 11 measures to stop the spread of the covid-19 which some people were openly defying.

The national covid-19 total is 843.

The rules are:

• NO person shall be permitted entry to, or otherwise remain within any enclosed space within an establishment, unless the person is wearing a mask or face covering, in a manner which covers their mouth, nose and chin;
• NO person shall be permitted entry into or otherwise remain on public transport unless the person is wearing a mask or face covering in a manner which covers their mouth, nose and chin;
• NO person shall be permitted entry into an aircraft anywhere in PNG unless the person is wearing a mask or face covering;
• NO person shall remove their mask or face covering while on an aircraft in PNG; and,
• ALL persons working in a designated market, establishment or on a public transport in which they interact in person with customers, clients or work in an enclosed space with other colleagues must wear masks at all times.

Face masks ‘a must’
Manning stressed that business and government departments and agencies must ensure that all employees must wear mask or face coverings.

But at the public service dedication service on Monday, the majority of the people who sat side by side were not wearing masks.

An officer from the Department of Community Development was seen handing out masks to public servants entering the Sir John Guise Stadium.

But once inside, some removed their masks.

Those exempted from the measures include:

• CHILDREN under 12;
• PERSONS with underlying medical conditions which inhibit their ability to wear a mask, including persons with physical or mental illness or impairment or disability;
• PERSONS who are unable to place or remove a facemask or face covering without assistance;
• PERSONS undergoing dental treatment or medical care to the extent that the procedure requires that no face covering may be worn; and
• PERSONS participating in sporting activities.

Manning said penalties would be imposed on those who failed to wear masks.

Asia Pacific Report republishes The National articles with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Epidemiologist Sir David Skegg is concerned at the level of complacency the public and government is showing towards covid-19 since the country reverted to alert level 1.

It comes following the revelations that an unknowingly infectious person visited an Auckland pub on Friday 16 October, as well as the influx of new imported and isolated cases at the Sudima Hotel in Christchurch where hundreds of members of a fishing crew are staying in managed isolation.

A pop-up community testing centre was being set up in Greenhithe today for members of the public.

However, the owner of The Malt pub in Greenhithe, where the infectious person visited, told RNZ’s Morning Report that when he went to get tested on Wednesday night he was told by staff to come back on Thursday for a test as the wait time was over three hours long.

Sir David, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago Medical School and former chair of the Public Health Commission, told RNZ Nine to Noon the messaging from the government was not clear enough and was leading to a cavalier attitude among the public.

“I think we all have to bear in mind the possibility, or in fact the certainty, that this virus is going to get into our community from time to time,” he said.

“There will be increasing pressure to relax our borders which clearly has happened with these deep sea fisherman and I think the rest of us need to behave with that knowledge.

”I’m really concerned’
“I’ve been really concerned now for two or three weeks – I still always use my app to record a QR code, I hardly ever see anyone else do it. I haven’t flown recently…

“People tell me most people aren’t wearing masks on the plane and again the government gave the wrong message there, I think, because I think people have just been led to believe that we’ve defeated this virus and we haven’t.

“It’s going to keep happening – and if we want to avoid lockdowns we’re going to have to change our behaviour.”

Sir David also believed officials had dropped the ball over the bunking of rooms at the Sudima Hotel in Chrischurch.

“Having people two to a room is sloppy procedure, it doesn’t make sense because it’s quite easy to work out that one person could infect the other who would not give a positive test before they come out into the community, so it just defies the principles of quarantine,” he said.

“To have a whole lot of people who have come from a country [Russia] with one of the highest incidences in the world, two to a room, I can only assume it was done as an economy measure to save the company, who are presumably paying for this quarantine…

“I sort of feel that it’s worrying that this kind of thing is happening, it almost seems as though the authorities don’t understand that the epidemiology is a disease.”

Clock reset to zero
Yesterday, the head of Managed Isolation and Quarantine, Air Commodore Darryn Webb said that if a crew member at the Sudima Hotel tested positive for the virus, then the clock would reset to zero for the person sharing a room with that person.

That would mean they would have to stay on an additional 14 days in managed isolation to ensure they aren’t infectious when they enter the community.

If someone in NZ really did get infected after just 3 mins contact then looks like we’re going to need to be isolating all casual contacts as well as close, or redefining what we mean by close.

— Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) October 21, 2020

Sir David said the testing surveillance throughout could also be stronger.

Yesterday more than 7000 tests were conducted, raising the rolling weekly average to 4449.

He said it was hard to know if that was enough.

“Certainly my anecdotal observations, talking to people who have had symptoms that could’ve reflected covid-19 suggest to me we’re not testing as consistently as we should,” he said.

“But testing is just one of the things, we need to keep practising sensible physical distancing, I’m trying to avoid shaking hands with people, it’s actually quite awkward, but actually shaking hands is a great way of passing viruses around.

“We just need to be vigilant because we’re so lucky in New Zealand, we’ve done so well, we’re enjoying freedoms and security that just are a distant memory in most countries, but we shouldn’t assume this is going to go on forever if we don’t take precautions.”

Sir David said the government should enforce the wearing of masks on public transport during the Labour Day long weekend to help stop any further community spread of covid-19.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

• For up-to-date information on testing locations in Auckland call Healthline on 0800 358 5453 or visit the ARPHS website.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Schools in Papua New Guinea’s National Capital District resumed yesterday, with strict covid-19 protocols in place, and with several turning away those who came without masks.

This came in the wake of a new covid-19 spike with PNG reporting another 52 cases of covid-19 yesterday since Thursday, taking its total to 323.

Head teacher at Bavaroko Primary School, Catherine Moresi, said staff had communicated this message to parents several times and expected them to provide a face mask for their children, reports the PNG Post-Courier.

“As you can see, we have put a note which says ‘entry by masks’, so no masks, don’t come inside, even in the classroom … this morning, some had to turn back because they had no masks on,” she said.

Moresi said that since classrooms were hot and often crowded, they had advised kids to only remove masks once they were outside and away from friends.

“This is so that they can breathe properly because some classrooms have one fan and I don’t know how they are going to cope with the face masks till the end,” she said.

The Department of Education yesterday advised parents and guardians that children below the age of 12 years were not required to wear face masks.

Proper use of PPE
The advice comes amid concerns on the proper use of the PPE by children and the risks associated with prolonged covering of the nose and mouth for those under the age of 12 years.

Moresi said they were not aware of the department’s recent statement and were communicating to parents based on the ongoing advice received earlier from the department and from the Pandemic Controller.

“We are advising all students to wear a face mask, especially for the 12-year-olds and above,” she said.

“They must wear a mask,” NCD School Inspector Elizabeth Kosi said, revealing that during yesterday’s school inspection, most elementary kids turned up with masks.

“We are thanking parents because we know that they are taking that ownership to protect their children.”

Gordons Secondary School principal, George Kenega, said the school promoted the covid-19 protocols and would make sure to send home students who arrived without masks, knowing that enough awareness had been made regarding the importance of face masks.

“We made it clear that if you don’t come with a mask, you won’t be allowed entry into the school,” he said.

All Coronation children sent home
At Coronation primary, all its elementary and upper-primary were sent home yesterday and told to return today with face masks on, while the school took the day off to prepare schedules to minimise social distancing, which is a huge concern facing schools in NCD.

In the neighbouring Indonesian-ruled Papua province, almost 300 children aged below 19 have been infected with covid-19.

The Jakarta Post reports that the data from the Papua Covid-19 prevention task force is a cumulative number from late March to last week.

In French Polynesia, the covid-19 outbreak has prompted a week-long closure of several schools on Tahiti, reports RNZ Pacific.

Two schools have each reported a covid-19 case, including a school run by the Maohi Protestant Church which decided to shut its seven teaching establishments.

They all plan to reopen next week.

The last official tally showed 130 people had tested positive for the coronavirus in the second wave, which arrived after quarantine requirements for international arrivals were lifted last month when borders reopened to boost the tourism sector.

Guam has confirmed 42 new cases of covid-19 today bringing the territory’s total up to 558 with 5 deaths, reports RNZ Pacific.

Just days after the Northern Marianas recorded its 50th case of covid-19, the islands’ total has continued to rise with three more testing positive for the coronavirus on Sunday taking the total to 53.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

By Todagia Kelola in Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea’s National and Supreme Court sittings in Waigani, NCD, resumed under the “new normal” yesterday – no facemasks, no entry – and the same applies for national courts throughout the country.

At the Waigani Supreme and National courthouse, Registrar Ian Augerea officially turned on a tap for court users to wash their hands before entering the court rooms.

All court sittings were suspended as a result of the covid-19 coronavirus pandemic lockdown and were only attending to urgent matters and by way of teleconference during the period.

Augerea said while the courts will be open, public access to courtrooms will remain restricted, with strict protocols to be adhered to.

Some protocols that will be used are:

• Any person entering courtroom in this capacity must adorn a face mask;
• Any person entering a courtroom must use a hand sanitiser prior to entering the court premises and the court rooms;
• Any person entering any courtroom must maintain 1.5 metres distance between him/herself and any other person in court;
• Entry into any courtroom by persons observing court proceedings is restricted to no more than five persons;
• Access will be supervised and authorised by security officers; and
• Personnel access to all registry counters will be restricted to only 3 to 4 persons at one time. All persons gaining access to the registry counter must adorn a mask.

Todagia Kelola is a PNG Post-Courier reporter.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz