Kaniva News correspondent Patimiosi Ngūngūtau took this photo of an emotional farewell for a grieving Tongan family at the Tanoa hotel in Nukua’alofa this week.

The family requested that they stop outside the quarantine facility so that her daughter, who was in managed isolation after recently arriving from New Zealand could pay her respects to her mother, Ngūngūtau said.

The daughter can be seen grieving in a quarantine room as family console her from a distance on Tuesday.

A burial service was held after the MIQ farewell at the Pikipeavela cemetery in Haveluloto for the deceased.

The photograph shone a light on the struggles some people in managed isolation face when returning home for a family bereavement.

Tonga has a strict rule of 15-day quarantine at MIQs for repatriates who arrived at Fua’amotu International Airport.

Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku said Tonga had had 287 positive cases since the outbreak.

There were only 133 active cases at present, 57 had recovered and 78 cases had been discharged from MIQs.

One person who had covid died this week but the Minister of Health attributed his cause of death to the person’s underlying medical conditions.

Republished with permission from Kaniva Tonga News.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

With the arrival of the omicron variant on our shores, it is hard to believe, judging by the media coverage — particularly on MIQ, that the Aotearoa New Zealand government has got anything right in its pandemic response.

One important feature that has been missed in the debate on New Zealand’s pandemic response to date, however, is our very low death rate. At under 60, it is 0.5 percent of the rate in the United Kingdom – approximately 10 per million, compared with more than 2000 per million in the United Kingdom.

This is a very important metric that has been given too little regard here and overseas. The number of people dying of covid-19 in the UK is well over 150,000. This figure is confirmed by the data on excess deaths estimated against the long-run average; the two numbers closely correspond.

This figure is just under half the number of British troops killed in World War II. And this in two years of a pandemic, compared with the six years of that conflict.

In other words, the deaths wrought by covid are on a scale comparable with a major outbreak of warfare. And yet too many commentators and decision-makers have become inured to this death toll, concentrating instead on the performance of the health system and the enjoyment of individual freedoms.

If we had suffered the same rate of covid deaths as the UK has, that would make the number of deaths not 50-60 but 10,000, not far short of the number of New Zealanders dying in World War II (just under 12,000).

The scale of death — or the potential for death — therefore needs to feature more prominently in the coverage of the politics of the pandemic.

‘Let the bodies pile high’​
For example, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have stated that he would prefer to “let the bodies pile high”​ rather than pursue another lockdown.

True or not, that reported statement had almost no impact on his popularity compared to stories of his attending parties at Downing Street when the UK was under firm restrictions on gatherings.

This blind spot in the media coverage and cultural resonance of the pandemic came home to me when a columnist in the left-of-centre publication New Statesman pointed out that, pre-omicron, her friends in Australia didn’t know a single person with the virus, and yet their state and federal governments at that time were pursuing far stronger public health measures than were being applied the UK.

The same could have been said of New Zealand since the two countries have followed similar policies.

Yes, most Australians — and New Zealanders — pre-Omicron were unlikely to know anybody with the virus; but neither were they likely to know anybody who had died of it, which is in many respects a far more important metric both ethically and politically.

Arguably, New Zealand — like Australia — is a more communitarian country, with “two degrees of separation” and all that. Thus, it might matter that bit more to us whether or not our neighbour, friend, or relative dies of a pandemic disease.

In larger, more anonymous societies there is less proximity to death.

Pictures of morgues
At present anyway, pictures of morgues piled high with the dead from the pandemic would be socially unacceptable in our culture. Added to this is the special place of Māori, who could suffer disproportionately with a premature opening of our borders.

This is something that Grounded Kiwis, the expatriate New Zealanders’ group pushing the legal case against the government, may have missed. If it forces the hand of the government to open our borders before we have been able to achieve acceptable levels of both vaccination and infection protection — such as masking, ventilation, distancing, and self-testing against the onslaught of omicron – then the consequences may also be an increase in the likely death rate in New Zealand.

For example, New South Wales at the peak of its omicron outbreak recorded rather more deaths in a single day than New Zealand had recorded over the near-two years of the pandemic, despite the supposedly milder and less impactful character of this variant.

Is that really what we want?

It is also as well to remember our responsibility to all vulnerable populations, including the elderly, Māori and Pasifika, and all those with relevant underlying health conditions. These groups have suffered disproportionately in the pandemic so far.

Few of us have experienced over a short time and in a proximate way significant numbers of deaths in our circles. Half a century ago, it was more common for people to die at home, often surrounded by family, but this has become much less so.

These days it is more likely to be professionally and medically managed, with much of our experience of death otherwise coming packaged via mass and social media.

The government — and New Zealanders — have done well to keep pandemic death at bay. This is not to justify draconian measures without considered trade-offs against wider societal costs and benefits.

But it is to argue for a more balanced discussion of our pandemic response, and to show greater respect for the more communitarian style of it.

Peter Davis is an elected member of the Auckland District Health Board, and emeritus professor in population health and social science at the University of Auckland. His article was first published at Stuff and is republished on Asia Pacific Report with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

My name is Muzhgan Samarqandi and I am from Baghlan, Afghanistan, but living in New Zealand with my Kiwi husband and our son. Like Charlotte Bellis, I too was a broadcaster in Afghanistan, back when this was possible for a woman without being a foreigner.

As a mother, my heart goes out to Charlotte, and I sincerely hope she and her partner get to New Zealand so she can give birth at home surrounded by her family.

As someone who has travelled for study and work and love, and who does not share the same passport as their significant other, my heart goes out to everyone stranded overseas, and I sincerely hope they can all get home and be reunited with their loved ones.

But as an Afghanistani woman, who has only recently emigrated from Afghanistan to New Zealand, I have to speak up.

I almost did so when Charlotte interviewed Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban spokesperson with the Kiwi accent. She went easy on him. For example, at the end of the interview, she asked what he had to say to those who called the Taliban “terrorists”.

He said people didn’t really believe they were terrorists, but this was just a word the US used for anyone who didn’t fall in line with their agenda. There were no further questions.

This was a man who claimed responsibility on behalf of the Taliban for attacks on innocent civilians. A man who has admitted to crimes against humanity. It made me so upset to see him get away with answers like that. But then my energy was taken up just coping with the reality of what was happening to my friends and family in Afghanistan.

Social media responses
But now, when I read Charlotte’s letter in the New Zealand Herald and see the media and social media responses, I see the situation in my country being trivialised, and it makes me angry.

Charlotte refers to herself asking the Taliban in a press conference what they would do for women and girls, and says she is now asking the same question of the New Zealand government.

I understand there are problems with MIQ. And I understand the value in provoking change with controversy. But what I don’t understand is how someone who has lived and worked in Afghanistan, and seen the impact of the Taliban’s regime on women and girls, can seriously compare that situation to New Zealand.

Afghanistani women who resist or protest the regime are being arrested, tortured, raped and killed. Young girls are being married off to Talibs (a member of the Taliban). Education and employment are no longer available to them.

A 19-year-old girl I know from my village, who was in her first year of law last year is now, instead, a housewife to a Talib.

There are so many stories like this.

The Taliban distort Islam
Charlotte says the Taliban have given her a safe haven when she is not welcome in her own country. This is obviously a good headline and good way to make a point. But it is an inaccurate and unhelpful representation of the situation.

One commentary on Instagram, re-posted by Charlotte, suggested her story represents the truly Muslim acts of the Taliban, which the Western media have not shown. This makes me angry.

If a person in power extends privileges to someone who doesn’t threaten their power, it doesn’t mean they are not oppressive or extremist or dangerous.

The Taliban distort Islam and manipulate Muslims for their political gain. They violate the rights of women and girls, and it is offensive to compare them to the New Zealand government in this regard.

New Zealand is no paradise, I have experienced my fair share of racism here, and I am sure the MIQ situation can be improved.

But relying on the protection of a regime that is violently oppressive, and then using that to try to shame the New Zealand government into action, is not the way to achieve that improvement.

It exploits and trivialises the situation in Afghanistan, at a time when the rights of Afghanistani women and girls desperately need to be taken seriously.

Muzhgan Samarqandi works for an international aid agency in New Zealand. Her article was first published on the TV One News website and is republished here with the author’s permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

People should do everything they can against omicron, but it is likely large numbers will be infected, New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister says.

Speaking to RNZ Morning Report today, Chris Hipkins said masks, booster shots, isolating and good preparation for isolation were all vital steps people should take to slow the spread of the virus.

But “the cat is out of the bag to some extent, and we know that we’re likely to see more cases, and potentially significantly more cases associated with these ones.

“There’s no silver bullet we are going to experience a large number of cases.”

The entire country is now in the red Covid-19 Framework setting, with the news announced yesterday that omicron is likely spreading in the community.

“There are some unavoidable realities about this, and one of those unavoidable realities is that we will see omicron spreading much more quickly than previous variants of the virus,” Hipkins said.

Booster vaccinations were going strongly, he said, but there was still a chunk of those eligible who weren’t getting them as soon as they could.

“Our main message is once you’re eligible come forward and get your booster dose.”

Covid-19 vaccination providers have been warned to prepare for high demand today in response to the news of omicron spread in the community, and have been asked to consider staying open late to meet demand.

“We do know from our delta experience that when an outbreak is happening or is imminent, that drives a lot more [vaccinations].”

Making people eligible for the booster three months after their second Covid-19 shot, rather than the current four months would only shift about 100,000 people forward, Hipkins said, and while it had been considered, the benefit was not considered worthwhile at this stage.

Testing strategy shifts expected

Hipkins said it was expected that as the situation changed, the public will be asked to make changes in their response.

In this future this was likely to include whether those experiencing symptoms get tested.

Right now, Hipkins said, the government wanted everyone to continue to get tested if they had any cold or flu symptoms, or if they were a contact. But if daily case numbers rose considerably not everyone would be tested.

“A lot more people will get it, but many of those people — particularly those who’ve been boosted … are likely to be able to recover by staying at home,” he said.

“There will be some … further down the line … that we’ll be saying: ‘Don’t worry about getting tested … just stay home and get better’.”

National Party leader Christopher Luxon told Morning Report the 4.6 million rapid antigen test kits (RATs) currently in the country was an alarmingly low number and the government should have acted sooner to stockpile them and authorise private importing.

“We need them now, and we needed them months ago. Now we’re in a place where it’s quite an urgent situation,” Luxon said.

“Many countries … you actually upload the result of your rapid antigen test you do at home … and that’s how the government tracks what’s actually happening with cases.”

Hipkins said there were widespread international issues with RAT supplies; “Countries that are relying on them are now running out.”

But before Christmas the government had begun efforts to purchase as many as possible

“We know that as this situation unfolds we’re going to want to use rapid antigen testing a lot more.”

Luxon said the National party supported the government’s shift to the red framework setting “reluctantly”.

But he said the government must act more quickly at adopting international learning in how to respond to the virus: “We’ve got to keep going forward.”

He said once daily case numbers rose drastically, managed isolation and quarantine facilities (MIQ) at the border could become redundant. If that happens, National want the government to reconsider MIQ, and in particular to allow all New Zealanders overseas to return without having to go through it.

Mask use tutorials
Hipkins said experts strongly advised surgical masks were still the best for the public to use, and: “We’ve got plenty of those available.”

He said while testing showed N95 masks were more effective against Covid-19, in real world application it was not that simple.

“An N95 mask needs to be the right fit, otherwise it can be potentially less effective. If you buy the wrong shape or the wrong size and it doesn’t sit properly, then actually the extra protection that you could be getting from that – you won’t necessarily get that.”

The country has plenty of N95 masks for health workers and frontline workers in stock, and they were given professional fitting tutorials and had their fit checked by others.

Hipkins said the government would enact any new advice around masks and omicron quickly as it came in, but research on masks was still evolving.

Hipkins did not have any new updates on the Nelson Tasman region cluster of cases at this stage.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand covid-19 experts are nervously observing an ever-increasing number of cases at the border, as the threat of an omicron outbreak looms.

The highly transmissible variant has rapidly spread around the globe and New Zealand has dodged a community outbreak so far.

But with the escalating number of overseas returnees testing positive, there are fears a new wave of the virus could be out in the community within weeks.

Epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker called the variant a “huge threat” and said it was not a matter of if there was an outbreak, but when.

Professor Baker was concerned there may have been undetected transmission of the virus — whether that was the delta or omicron variant — during the Christmas and New Year period.

“It will take a while for people to people to develop symptoms if they were exposed. Everyone should be aware of getting any cold or flu symptoms, which is unusual for this time of year.”

MIQ hotels well set up
A Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) spokesperson told RNZ the hotels were well set up to cater for omicron cases and a number of precautionary measures were in place to manage the risk.

This included travellers staying 10 days in MIQ and undergoing four tests during that time.

Anyone who tested positive was treated as an omicron case until proven otherwise by genome sequencing.

Despite these measures, Dr Baker was doubtful the country could make it through the month without the omicron variant escaping.

“We’re getting more than 20 cases a day in the last three days. That’s going to put huge strain on the MIQ system, as we know every infected that arrives increases the risk of border failure.”

Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, who is an associate professor at the University of Auckland, told RNZ Morning Report that rather than embracing the arrival of the new variant as some have done, Aotearoa needed to be prepared for its arrival.

‘Back to where we started’
“We’re kind of back where we started again, and what we really need to be doing is trying to delay that coming into our community for as long as possible so we can get everybody with that third booster dose and so that we can also get the vaccine rollout started and hopefully finished with our children,” she said.

“There is no controlled spread with omicron, I think it’s an absolutely ridiculous idea.

“There’s being prepared for it to come and then there’s welcoming it with open arms and all we have to look at is everywhere around the world doing open arms and it’s just not working at all.”

There were 64 new border-related cases in MIQ during the weekend, bringing the total to 227.

University of Otago senior lecturer Dr Lesley Gray said this did not bode well.

“We know that for every approximately 100 that we have in MIQ there is a risk that there might be one that might end up in the community.”

From January 7, travellers to New Zealand must return a negative test within 48 hours of their departure, down from 72 hours.

Catching virus in short time-frame
Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay had previously said that people may have been incubating covid-19 before their flight or been exposed during their travel.

Dr Gray was concerned people were catching the virus within that short-time frame.

“We do have to ask the questions of ‘how, what, when, and why’. As these people travel, they’re distanced for the most part on the planes, when they’re in airports they’re wearing masks and they have to take a reasonable number of precautions,” she said.

She urged New Zealanders to ask themselves if they were ready for an omicron outbreak.

This included having adequate supplies and a suitable place to quarantine if needed.

She said getting a booster shot, scanning in, mask-wearing, and testing were among the best tools to tackle omicron.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Rising covid-19 cases at the border are increasing the risk of the omicron variant spreading in Aotearoa but a leading epidemiologist says the country still has time to prepare for an outbreak.

Today there were 43 covid-19 cases identified at the border, a jump from 23 cases yesterday, and the Ministry of Health believes the majority are omicron.

But New Zealand still has time to keep omicron out and prepare the population before the virus enters the community, says University of Melbourne epidemiologist Professor Tony Blakely, originally from New Zealand.

Looking at New South Wales probably hitting its peak with omicron cases, he told RNZ Morning Report there were lessons for New Zealand to better manage an outbreak.

He said there was a huge “five-fold” undercount of cases because those infected with omicron were more likely to be asymptomatic. There could be up to 180,000 infections a day, he said.

His explanation for nearing the peak was: “It makes sense because of that number of infections per day … the virus exhausts the number of people it can infect because you’re chewing up all the susceptibles.”

He said there was a massive shortage of rapid antigen tests in Australia which was “just appalling”, thereby disrupting employment and the supply chain.

‘Flipping lessons to NZ’
“So flipping this to lessons for New Zealand: Get heaps of rapid antigen tests in before you get omicron and change your surveillance systems, or at least have them ready to go to pivot to being less reliant on PCR when the numbers of omicron go up.

“And follow some of the UK example of getting some free rapid antigen tests out towards citizens who have got some ready for when omicron arrives.”

He said New Zealand could take a few more steps to keeping covid-19 out because it had “the advantage of learning from pretty much every other country”.

“Try and keep the borders really strong which New Zealand has excelled at and wait for better vaccines that have wider coverage and not let omicron in. I think the chances of pulling that off are remote because omicron will get in at some point.

“The second option is, somewhat controversially, to embrace omicron.”

Blakely said omicron was “way less severe” thereby reducing the number of people that died or had to go to hospital.

“Omicron is less dangerous than delta … we’re talking somewhere between 1-5 percent of the mortality risk of a delta infection.”

Good immunity against delta
He said studies showed people who had had omicron then had good immunity against delta.

“So if New Zealand embraces omicron in, the trick is to manage it well.

“But there are other things to do in the next six weeks for New Zealand, which is boost like crazy, try and get at least two-thirds of the over 60 population boosted … before omicron comes in and get the public ready.

“Have a plan in place, mandatory masks when the case numbers get to a certain point.”

University of Canterbury professor Michael Plank said new cases in MIQ was a steep rise from last year, when most days, there were just two or three new cases arriving.

“What that really shows, there is a high risk at the moment of the virus leaking out.”

He said it mirrored international data showing infection rates were higher than ever, in some countries.

No assumptions over MIQ
Professor Plank said New Zealanders could not assume managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) would keep the variant out.

New testing rules will come into effect for arrivals into the country, with travellers required to return a negative test result within 48 hours of departure, rather than 72 hours.

Professor Plank said it was a helpful step, but he would like to see rapid antigen tests also used, for a final check on the day of departure.

“These tests return a result in about 20 minutes so these can actually be done on the day. They won’t catch every last case but even if they only caught say 50 percent of cases prior to getting on the flight, that would be a help.”

Professor Plank said Aotearoa needed to buy as much time against omicron as possible, to roll out boosters and child vaccinations.

“If you’re eligible for that booster dose, don’t delay, don’t wait for a few weeks, because it could be too late by then.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

More moves to tighten the New Zealand’s borders may be needed on top of the decision to delay the start of the self-isolation scheme for Australian travellers, a professor of public health says.

Today, the government announced cabinet has decided to delay the self-isolation scheme.

Instead of travellers being allowed to self-isolate from January 17 the change will take effect from the end of February.

For those who had booked to come home to New Zealand from Australia from January 17, the government would work with airlines to ensure some MIQ space was available, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said at a media update.

Air New Zealand has already cancelled about 120 flights, mostly from across the Tasman, as a result of the changes.

The rapid spread worldwide of the omicron variant of covid-19 is the main reason for the policy rethink.

It is among changes announced today that include a vaccine rollout for five to 11 year olds from January and a reduction in the time to wait for booster shots — from six months to four months.

Public health experts welcome change
The changes are being welcomed by public health experts, with Professor Nick Wilson from Otago University saying that the delay in self-isolation was the most important.

He said temporarily turning down the tap on international travellers from countries with the worst omicron outbreaks (at least for two to three months) may also be needed.

New South Wales officials over the weekend noted omicron was now likely the dominant strain in the state’s third outbreak, in which today alone it recorded more than 3000 cases.

But Professor Wilson said the government may also need to:

• insist on rapid antigen tests at the airport for international travellers coming into Aotearoa;
• make more improvements to MIQ facilities in terms of ventilation and avoiding shared spaces such as exercise areas; and
• re-design the alert level system so that it can rapidly eliminate any outbreaks of the omicron variant that arise in the community.

“While there is still a lot of uncertainty around the omicron variant, especially the risk of severe disease, it is wise to try to keep it out of NZ as long as possible and until more is known about this variant,” Professor Wilson said.

No clear evidence of lower severity
Dr Matthew Hobbs, a senior lecturer in public health at the University of Canterbury, said he was concerned that a recent study from Imperial College London showed no clear evidence that omicron had lower severity than delta.

“Though it will be disappointing for many, through reviewing and postponing current border reopening plans, New Zealand has bought itself some much needed time while it works out how much of a problem omicron could be — like the last time we closed the Trans-Tasman bubble,” he said.

“It also provides us with a few more crucial months to get the booster shots up and roll out the paediatric vaccines.”

Dr Hobbs suggested the vaccination requirement for arrivals could be raised to three doses to reduce the risk of Omicron coming to New Zealand.

“More broadly, we also need to shift our domestic focus to a global perspective. The root of this issue is that the world isn’t doing enough to stop the spread of covid-19,” Dr Hobbs said.

“Wealthy countries around the world continue to hoard vaccines. This ultimately gives the virus more opportunities to replicate and mutate.

“Omicron should act as the wake-up call to ensure worldwide equitable vaccine delivery before even more concerning variants emerge.”

Omicron would ‘reach NZ quickly from Australia’
Professor Michael Plank, from Te Pūnaha Matatini and the University of Canterbury, said the rapidly growing omicron outbreak in New South Wales and its spread to other Australian states meant it would almost certainly get into the community in New Zealand within weeks if the country went ahead with border reopening plans in January.

“Delaying reopening plans to the end of February gives us a chance to keep omicron out until the majority of adults have received their third dose of the vaccine,” he said.

“Increasing the MIQ stay to 10 days and shortening the pre-departure test period from 72 to 48 hours are sensible ways to reduce the risk of the highly transmissible Omicron variant leaking out of MIQ. Adding a requirement for a rapid test on the day of the departure would be a useful extra measure.

“Hopefully these measures will keep omicron contained at the border. But if omicron does find its way into the community, the government has said it intends to use the red level of the traffic light system to try and control its spread.

“It’s unlikely this would be sufficient to prevent rapid spread of the variant if community transmission became established.

“Rolling out booster doses as quickly as possible is therefore essential to minimising the risk that omicron overwhelms our healthcare system.”

Hipkins also noted in the announcement today that the variant would spread quickly if it was in the community, and that public health advice suggested that soon every case coming into our border will be the omicron variant.

28 new covid-19 community cases
The Ministry of Health reported today there are 28 new cases of covid-19 in the community, and no new omicron cases in Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ).

In a statement, the ministry said of the new cases, 21 were in Auckland, five in Bay of Plenty, and two in Taranaki.

There are 57 cases in hospital, 10 in North Shore, 25 in Auckland, 19 in Middlemore, one in Northland, and two in Waikato. Seven cases are in ICU or HDU (one in North Shore; two in Auckland; three in Middlemore, one in Northland).

The ministry has also revealed that a recent returnee who left Middlemore Hospital without discharge, after being transferred from MIQ, also took their young child with them.

The child was transferred in the ambulance with the parent because it meant they could not be left unattended in managed isolation due to their age.

Police are currently investigating the incident which happened early on Monday morning.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ. The public health comments in this report were put together by the Science Media Centre. Professor Michael Plank is partly funded by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet for research on mathematical modelling of covid-19.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A second person with covid-19 who was isolating at home has died in New Zealand, the Ministry of Health has confirmed.

In this afternoon’s covid media briefing, where it was revealed there were 163 new community cases of covid-19 today, Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said St John Ambulance attended a call this morning after an emergency call to an address in the suburb of Mount Eden and found a person dead on arrival.

The man in his fifties is understood to have been recently treated in hospital.

“Health authorities in Auckland are working with the police and ambulance crew to review the circumstances around the death,” Dr McElnay said.

Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson said it was his understanding the dead man was admitted to hospital on Monday and discharged himself from the hospital on Wednesday.

He said there had been phone contact with them on Wednesday and Thursday.

“I am confident in the system. Obviously when we introduce a new system like self-isolation we need to continully monitor it and that’s happening,” he said.

Looking at wider system
“Between the Ministry of Health and the Auckland regional public health, they’re looking at both these specific incidents, but also at the wider system.

“It’s important to note there are still enquiries going on about the cause of death at the moment and we’ve just got to all make sure we allow that to occur.”

Robertson said before it was decided that a person could self-isolate, there was a public health assessment of issues like the circumstances of someone’s accommodation.

A medical assessment also determined the person’s suitability as a candidate for self-isolation.

“We’re not in a position at the moment to be able to say what the cause of death was for either patient,” Roberston said.

Dr McElnay said the coroner would look at both deaths.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Health Ministry Chief Executive Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola says the ministry had not responded to allegations made on social media to protect the privacy of a suspected covid-19 patient.

He said the ministry had been very careful not to release any information that might identify the person.

He said the patient should have been advised not to release any information.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said information had been released through various channels, which had caused problems.

Prime Minister’s concerns
During yesterday’s press conference a journalist asked why the patient was allowed to contact other people on his mobile phone.

He said this was why there were concerns in the social media that the government should take the situation seriously because what had been leaked from the MIQ included information that was unreliable.

He asked Prime Minister Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa to make a firm decision on the claim.

In his response, Tuʻiʻonetoa said he had just received a message on his mobile phone and was disappointed with what had been revealed in it.

The Prime Minister did not go into details on what he had received, but it appeared it was a video clip which had been widely shared on Facebook purporting to show the patient talking to what appeared to be family members on a mobile phone while the conversation was being recorded on another phone.

Serious accusations
In that conversation serious accusations were made against the government, including claims that it was lying to the public when it said the patient had been taken to the Mu’a MIQ on Saturday.

The patient said he had been taken on Monday.

During the conversation the patient said he had tested negative, but the ministry kept on telling the public the test was positive.

Dr ‘Akau’ola said two tests must be carried out to confirm a negative result. The patient’s second test would be today.

Kaniva News reported yesterday that Dr ‘Akau’ola had said the patient had returned a weak positive result and had now tested negative.

The Prime Minister said: “I have listened to it (the recording of the conversation) and I did not like the attitude of their conversation and it said the patient was taken to Mu’a MIQ,” the Prime Minister said.

Tu’i’onetoa asked the meeting for his officials to clarify when the patient was taken to the MIQ.

“I want to confirm that,” he said.

Respect for the patient
The Minister of Health and her CEO were looking at each other before the CEO apologised to the Prime Minister and the conference, saying it was true the patient was taken on Monday not Saturday as he was advised, because of some paper work issues.

The CEO said the ministry highly respected the patient.

“We wanted to protect his identity,” Dr ‘Akau’ola said.

“He is carrying a huge burden and the people’s concerns as well.

“As I look at it there was a weakness as he should have been given proper counselling advice for him not to release any information.

“However, we learnt from this”, the CEO said.

Family members
This morning some family members of the patient were concerned that some posts on Facebook targeted the patient’s paternal side.

The posts included one which said the problem was that the family should not have released the identity of the patient to the public because it would backfire on them.

Another said the whole family could be stigmatised by the situation, something that is extremely common in Tonga.

It said some families or clans were stigmatised with “kilia”, the Tongan word for leprosy, in the past. Nowadays it was a stigma that people used to identify those families whenever there was any dissatisfaction with them.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The New Zealand government revealed changes to MIQ (managed isolation and quarantine) today, with stays halving from 14 to seven days, followed by isolation at home for three days.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield gave today’s update on the government’s response to the Delta outbreak.

There were 89 new community cases of covid-19 reported in New Zealand today — including two in Christchurch.

Watch it here

Today’s media briefing. Video: RNZ

Under the new MIQ regime, which will begin from November 14, arrivals must be fully vaccinated and will be tested on days 0, 3 and 6 and undertake a rapid antigen test before leaving MIQ, before a day-9 test at home.

He said this would free up about 1500 rooms a month in MIQ. Some of this would be taken up by community cases but some would go into the booking system for travellers from overseas.

Pacific border travel
The second step will be to reopen the border to low-risk travellers from Samoa, Tonga and Tokelau without isolation.

This one-way quarantine-free travel will begin from November 8.

The third step will allow more people to isolate at home, available to increasing numbers of travellers in the first quarter of 2022.

He said changes at the border will be linked to the traffic light system.

“The faster New Zealanders get fully vaccinated so that we can move to the traffic light system, the faster we’ll be able to open the border.”

He said New Zealanders will also understand that the government does not want to accelerate the spread of covid-19 around the country by lowering restrictions before we reach very high levels of vaccination.

Kiwis first priority
Hipkins said the first priority for allowing people into New Zealand was Kiwis and people who already had visas, followed by other groups like international students.

“Tourists are more of a challenge … what you will see though in the first part of next year will be quite different from the way we’ve been managing it over the past 18 months.”

Hipkins said stopping covid-19 at the border had been a priority and New Zealand’s ability to do so had led to levels of freedom over the past year and a half which were the envy of many other nations.

“As a country we owe a massive vote of thanks to our front-line MIQ and border workers,” he said.

Hipkins said in the meantime, the message to all New Zealanders was very simple – get vaccinated.

83 cases in Auckland
The Ministry of Health said 83 of the new community covid-19 cases were in Auckland and four are in Waikato.

Two were already reported in Christchurch yesterday, but the Hipkins said this afternoon that Cabinet had decided to keep the region at alert level 2.

Dr Bloomfield said there was one case in an MIQ worker, with work being done to identify if this was a community case.

Fifty of today’s cases remain unlinked. There are 293 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

There are also seven cases in managed isolation

There are 37 people in hospital, with five in intensive care.

The four new community cases in Waikato today include three in Hamilton and one in Ôtorohanga, and are all contacts of existing cases.

Just three cases in the Waikato have not been epidemiologically linked to the outbreak, although they have been geneologically linked.

Yesterday there were 74 new community cases of covid-19 — 68 in Auckland and six in Waikato.

There have now been 2921 cases in the current delta outbreak.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Northland will move to alert level 3 restrictions from 11:59pm tonight, New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister has confirmed.

Minister Chris Hipkins held a briefing at Parliament on the situation in Northland this evening.

The new restrictions will remain in place until 11.59pm Tuesday and will be reviewed at Cabinet on Monday.

Hipkins said the move was necessary following new information on the risk presented by a positive case initially tested in Whangārei earlier this week and confirmed in Auckland yesterday. The woman was now in an Auckland managed isolation quarantine facility.

“Updated information provided by the police today shows the case moved extensively around Northland after travelling there on October 2,” Hipkins said.

He said it was believed she did not travel alone and travelled with another woman, who was not yet in MIQ.

“We believe this new information warrants an alert level change decision to keep Northland people safe,” he said.

“It has also been taken because the individual has not been cooperative with contact tracing efforts.”

He said the woman had not supplied the reason for being in Northland.

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Video: RNZ News

“It has been very difficult to get information about this particular case,” Hipkins said.

“The first test result we had was what you could describe as an indeterminate test result, so it was quite difficult to locate the person.

“The information that they supplied when they were tested the first time did not provide sufficent information to be able to contact them with the test result and get them back to be tested.

“It took some time to track them down, the police ultimately were able to assist there and did help to track the person down.”

Hipkins said he understood the woman obtained a document by providing false information to leave Auckland but this was yet to be verified. When it was discovered and revoked they were already in Auckland.

The first locations of interest for Northland have been added to the Ministry of Health’s website.

They include BP Connect Wylies petrol station and the Z Kensington service station in Whangārei.

Northland vaccination rates low
Hipkins said another factor taken into account was that vaccination rates in Northland were low compared to the national average.

“Without placing restrictions on movement there is a possibility that the virus could spread quite rapidly within the community.”

It is one of the least-vaccinated regions – just two thirds of residents have had their first Pfizer dose.

“Cases spreading at alert level 2 are a risk we cannot take, but it’s also further reason why we need to really focus on vaccinations,” said Hipkins. “Without high vaccination rates we will need to continue to use restrictions to stop the virus spreading.

“I have two things to ask of Northlanders. First, if you have any cold and flu like symptoms please come forward and get a test as soon as possible.”

“The second request that I have and I can’t stress this enough, is please get vaccinated. These cases do highlight the risk of Covid-19 to the unvaccinated anywhere in the country.

“Now is the time to be vaccinated.”

Northlanders ‘stay in bubble’
Hipkins reminded Northlanders that alert level 3 meant they had to stay in their bubble and stay at home.

“Don’t go and visit family, friends and neighbours, this is a virus that can spread quite quickly and that is part of the way it spreads.”

Speaking to RNZ Checkpoint after the announcement, Whangārei Mayor Sheryl Mai said she was “actually quite grumpy”.

“We’ve got a person who really has done everything that they should not do. And they’ve impacted on all of Northland as a result.

“I was giving the person the benefit of the doubt earlier today. Now I’m just ropeable.”

Epidemiologist Michael Baker said without full cooperation with contact tracers, public health staff are reliant on swabbing and wastewater results to track the virus’ spread.

Professor Baker said the Te Tai Tokerau situation was “really concerning” and the lockdown “had to be done”.

With Northland entering level 3, Auckland in a level 3 with benefits, and Waikato in level 3 restrictions, he told Checkpoint there needed to be clarity on what strategy New Zealand was pursuing against covid-19.

“We’ve actually had very confused messages this week about a number of things, including what comes after elimination, which we seem to be transitioning out of. That hasn’t been made clear,” he said.

“Also how are we going to use the alert level system? Because Auckland is using a stepped approach, they’re stepping up. The rest of the country’s got alert levels and is stepping down. There’s also a version of a traffic light system that’s been proposed circulating at the moment.

“So I think this week has really been quite poor for clarity of communication and coherence.

“The government really has to sort out where we’re going. And one of the approaches I think we should look at would actually be a regional approach.”

Professor Baker said suppression could be pursued in Auckland while an elimination strategy could work in the South Island.

There were 44 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the community today, including three in Waikato.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A man with covid-19 who allegedly escaped an Auckland MIQ facility today has been charged with breaking lockdown rules and has been bailed to return to a managed quarantine facility.

The man was arrested this afternoon at an Ōtāhuhu address by police in full PPE gear after leaving the Novotel Ibis-Ellerslie without permission earlier today.

RNZ News understands that after the man tested positive for covid-19, he was firstly required to isolate at his home, but he left the residence at some point yesterday.

It is understood police were alerted and once he returned to the house, he was taken by police to the quarantine hotel and formally processed, and at some point after that he allegedly escaped from the Ellerslie hotel.

RNZ News also understands a friend of his was involved in picking him up and returning him to the house where he was arrested this afternoon.

The man has been charged under the Health Order with failing to comply with an order (covid-19) and has appeared in the Auckland District Court via a video link this afternoon.

A judge has bailed him to return to a managed quarantine facility.

The Ministry of Health has reported that the number of new community cases of covid-19 connected to the delta outbreak has dropped to 49 today.

There were also four new cases in managed isolation.

All of the new community cases are in Auckland.

Family “extremely cooperative”
Police said the man’s family have been “extremely cooperative”.

Superintendent Steve Kehoe said police were notified just after 10.30am that the man had escaped from the facility in Ellerslie.

MIQ said the person had “allegedly absconded in the early hours of the morning”.

Police later cordoned off an Ōtāhuhu address while they prepared to arrest him, Superintendent Kehoe said in a statement.

Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the alleged escaper had last been seen at the Ellerslie MIQ about 1am.

It was his understanding the person was located at their usual home address.

He said it was not known yet how the person escaped, how they got home, or how long they were there.

CCTV reviews
“We still don’t have all of the confirmed information,” he said.

He said CCTV reviews were happening.

“I do have information that suggests that there is some CCTV of someone hiding in a bush while a security guard walked past them.”

It was not clear if the area was single or double-fenced, he said.

“Most of the areas that people who are staying in that facility have access to are double fenced, so the exercise area has a 1.8m fence followed by a 2m fence.”

He said somebody deliberately putting others at risk was unacceptable.

“If there has been in any way a lapse in the system that has allowed them to do that then that is something that I’m concerned about and we will absolutely be looking at.

Extra risk concern
“A lot of work has gone into making these facilities as secure as possible. If someone has made it out – particularly from a quarantine facility, where we extra-staff quarantine facilities because we know there’s extra risk there – then of course I’m concerned about that,” he said.

The Novotel Ibis-Ellerslie Hotel was only recently converted from a managed isolation into a more heavily secured quarantine site, beginning operations at midday last Monday, August 27.

“Obviously they’ve been stood up at relatively short notice, but nonetheless it should not be the case that somebody is able to get out of that facility,” Hipkins said.

“Our expectation is that people should not be able to leave them until they’ve been cleared to leave them so I’ll be expecting MIQ to provide a very robust defence as to what’s happened here because it is not okay for people to be able to get out …. the security should be sufficient.”

Responding police were dressed in full PPE.

Police also liaised with the Ministry of Health to understand the man’s movements since he left MIQ and was found in Ōtāhuhu.

Officers are working on where the man will be taken and assured the community that every precaution was being taken.

A family member reported the man missing and the minister was informed 12 hours later.

Ardern, Hipkins knew before 1pm
Hipkins and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern were briefed about the escape before the 1pm covid-19 media briefing today but she did not raise it throughout the duration of the media conference.

A spokesperson for her office said they were advised before the update of an “unfolding situation” being led by police.

They say because it was a “live” event the prime minister would not talk about it while it was still under way.

Hipkins told reporters he was advised before this afternoon’s question time the man had been arrested by the police, but made no reference to the situation in Parliament.

In a statement, National’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop said there were three questions that needed to be answered.

“Why it took 10 hours for police to be informed of the escape … at what time management at the MIQ facility knew or suspected this person had escaped … why the prime minister did not see fit to inform the public of the escape at today’s press conference.

“Police have confirmed the person escaped at 12.34am, but they were only told at 10.30am the next morning,” he said.

“The last thing we need is delta spreading further into the community through poor oversight of security at MIQ.”

Joint Head of MIQ Brigadier Rose King said the individual entered the facility yesterday evening.

“The fact that someone has absconded from one of our facilities is a disappointing and unacceptable breach.

“We are investigating how this happened and will make more information available as we gather the facts.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The agent for a ship carrying two covid-19-infected fishermen says New Zealand officials jumped the gun in announcing all its crew would be taken into managed isolation.

The mariners were in a group of nine sailors who arrived in Auckland on Monday without having to quarantine and were immediately driven to New Plymouth to board their deep sea fishing vessel.

Yesterday, Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said the Viking Bay was returning to New Plymouth where all 15 crew would be taken into managed isolation.

However, last night that was rejected by the port, which said it would put staff at risk.

As of last night, the Ministry of Health said it was now unclear where the ship would dock. The ministry declined to be interviewed today on RNZ Morning Report.

The vessel’s agent when it was at Taranaki, Bill Preston, told Morning Report the ship appeared to be in international waters.

Preston said there had been a lack of communication.

‘Jumping the gun’
“Announcements have been made without collaboration with the port or anybody. So I think everybody is jumping the gun a bit.”

He said the first he had heard of the situation was when the port’s chief executive called him to confirm the news, after Dr Bloomfield’s announcement in the weekly vaccine update yesterday.

“I said [to the port’s chief executive], ‘no, there’s been no decision around what the vessel is going to do at this stage’.”

Dr Bloomfield’s announcement was also the first time that the port had heard of the news too, Preston said.

Since then, he said he had seen communication with the ministry overnight, about making a plan of what the ship would do.

Maritime Union national secretary Craig Harrison said the port should reverse that decision on humanitarian grounds.

“Taranaki could let the vessel pull on site and tie up and not let anyone off but get them close to medical health in case something happens.”

Port’s ban ‘harsh’
Harrison said the port’s decision was “harsh”.

“We really feel for the crew now … this crew has got nowhere to go and you can guarantee that any foreign port that’s close to us now won’t let them in their waters… they won’t want to touch them,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I think New Zealand will have to do something about it.”

He said preventing the virus spreading to other crew on the cramped vessel would be difficult, with closed ventilation on the ship and only one galley.

“I feel really sorry for the crew that are out there, because you can imagine that what’s going through their minds is sooner or later are they going to get covid-19. It’s a terrible situation to be in and I think time is of the essence.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz