It seems a long time ago – some 124 days – since Mā’ohi Nui deplored its first covid-19 related deaths of an elderly woman on 11 September 2020 followed by her husband just hours later, both over the age of 80.

The local territorial government was indeed saddened about the loss and sent its condolences to the grieving family and relatives.

The opening of Mā’ohi Nui’s borders two months earlier on July 15 by the French High Commissioner, Dominique Sorain, in consultation with Tahiti’s President Edouard Fritch – who promptly agreed due to economic reasons – has led to today’s covid-19 pandemic crisis.

The latest figures at the time of writing show 124 covid-19 deaths, 40 people in hospital (including 19 patients on ventilators), and 80 new cases, making it a total of more than 17,400.

About 17,500 vaccine doses were available last week on January 7 for more than 8000 people but, unfortunately, one expects more deaths before the injection programme is rolled out.

These are sobering figures when entering January 2021 on the Gregorian calendar – and equally the Tahitian chart speaks of the Pleiades constellation, or Matari’i i Ni’a, foretelling abundance that extends from November to May.

Sadly, for the mourning families the only season of abundance appears to be the losses of the most vulnerable in our society – our elders.

It is also quite revealing that information about covid-19 cases are on a drip-feed from the Ministry of Health, with its minister doctor Jacques Raynal comparing covid-19 from the beginning to a mere flu.

And sometimes he was at pains to explain the differences between “cured” and “convalescing” patients.

It is clear that the local government, along with the highest representative of the French government, were unprepared and remained ill-equipped with this pandemic, a déjà-vu situation.

The spectre of Jacques Chirac and nuclear past
The most populated islands of the Society archipelago (Tahiti and Moorea) have been under curfew from December 14 to January 15, 2021, and that might be extended.

The only hospital centre of French Polynesia is at Ta’aone in Tahiti and that caters for the covid-19 patients. It has done so to the best of the hospital staff’s abilities. The same hospital complex is now at the centre of another dispute between pro-independent member of the Parliament Eliane Tevahitua and Health Minister Raynal, who sent an open invitation to the members of the hospital board (Tevahitua being a member), confirming in a ministerial letter that the name of the hospital would become Jacques Chirac, named after the late former French president.

For good measure, the family of President Chirac gave their approval and are honoured by such a gesture.

It is believed that the trade-off is that the Jacques Chirac Square in the capital Pape’ete (a name given to it by former Tahitian president Gaston Flosse) will be renamed “Tahua Tumarama” which in the indigenous language Mā’ohi means the “stage of rising light” (resembling the aftermath of a nuclear bomb).

The naming of the Chirac square was more than 20 years ago, which was in itself very controversial at the time, due to the fact that a plaque was erected not far from that very square to commemorate the people who had died (and are still dying) from the 30-year French nuclear testing programme started on 2 July 1966.

President Chirac resumed the suspended nuclear testing from September 1995 to May 1996.

Some historical information about the Jacques Chirac hospital complex should be shared. It was a former military base reserved for French military personal and kitted with bungalows.

The hospital opened in 1966 for the Centre of Experimentation of the Pacific (CEP) where the majority of French military were based before or after their missions to Fangataufa, Hao, Mangareva and Moruroa.

As children, we used to enjoy Ta’aone since the maritime military base gave onto a beautiful beach where we sunbathed and surfed, a popular place with the local population.

Those memories seem to send us back to the nuclear testing period some two generations ago and it might be fitting that such a hospital complex should carry the name of one of the French presidents.

What is more telling – or unfortunate – is the fact that the name Jacques Chirac appears to carry the signs of death whether related to the square next to the monument dedicated to those who died from the nuclear testing, or to this new hospital where people are being cared for but where unfortunately 124 people have so far died from covid-19, and many more from diseases related to nuclear fallout.

The reply of independent parliamentarian and Oscar Temaru
Back to the request of joining the local government in naming the hospital, pro-independence parliamentarian Tevahitua’s response to such an invitation did not fail to tell the health minister and the local government of the independent party Tavini Huira’atira’s (and her) “deep disappointment and disapproval” of such a neo-colonialist stand “to the detriment of the indigenous Polynesian people”.

“While the Mā’ohi people are trying to regain their own history and at a time when your government is promoting the use of the Mā’ohi languages in public space, it would have been more judicious to name the hospital Tiurai, an indigenous traditional tahu’a (doctor) who dedicated his life to caring and healing people’s pain for free”.

Ironically, Tiurai died from the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918.

In the same vein through my latest communication with Oscar Temaru, the leader of the independence party Tavini Huira’atira, has shown how his approach to local toponymy favoured illustrious and respected Mā’ohi figures who deserved to be honoured by the people, instead of the name of some coloniser.

While at the helm of the country as president (on and off from 2004 to 2009), Temaru changed the name of one of the most important avenues of the capital Pape’ete from Avenue Bruat (the first French governor) to Avenue Pouvana’a a O’opa after the famous indeopendence leader. A judicious political move as this historical avenue is considered to be the heart of the political and administrative arena.

This was a move that evidently did not please the French authorities, although naming rights is a competence held by the local government.

Not without irony
It is not without some irony that Temaru declared that there are some Tahitian politicians who are more French than the French and who reluctantly adhered to the new name.

According to Temaru, it is more “the mentality of our own people that he has been trying to change from the very beginning of his struggle against the French colonial power”.

Unfortunately, today a pro-France local government has turned the clock back and are perpetuating the neo-colonialism agenda.

It would have been more appropriate to maintain the original name of the hospital as Ta’aone, which means the rolling of the sand.

Most of the hospitals in Pape’ete and its neighbouring districts carry a colonial name (Chirac, Prince, Malardé and Cardella) apart, from a psychiatric hospital with an indigenous name of Vaiami and a clinic called Paofai.

It might give us an idea of how we, the indigenous people are been perceived and how, while we name buildings by their geographical location, colonisers are obsessed with seeing names of illustrious figures on temporary edifices in an effort to give them permanence and relevancy.

Ena Manuireva is a Mangarevian originally from the south of “French” Polynesia who has lived in New Zealand for many years and is currently a doctoral studies candidate in Te Ara Poutama at Auckland University of Technology. He writes frequently for Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The sharply rising number of deaths from the covid-19 coronavirus in Mā’ohi Nui (“French” Polynesia) has triggered a corrosive war of words with a pro-independence party lawmaker, Élaine Tevahitua, accusing President Édouard Fritch of mismanagement of the crisis.

All the archipelagos of the Polynesian territory have now been hit by the out of control covid-19 – even the most isolated, Mangareva – since the borders were opened four months ago.

Another new death from covid-19 coronavirus has been condemned at Tahiti’s only hospital, Ta’aone, taking the total to 62, with 225 new infections in the past 24 hours.

This takes the number of people carrying the virus to 12,587 since it was first detected on March 13.

Eighty-five patients are in hospital, including 24 in intensive care unit whose stay at the hospital usually last around three weeks.

This long stay puts pressure on the number of beds available as the increase in covid-19 continues.

If this rate persists, it is likely there will be more than 100 deaths by the end of the year.

Open letter to Tahiti’s president
Last week, the independence party, Tavini Huiraatira, wrote an open letter to the president, presenting statistics about “good management of covid-19”.

The letter cited examples to follow such as Fiji, Maldives, New Caledonia, and Samoa ranging from a small number of deaths to no cases at all, challenging the “abysmal death rate” under President Fritch’s governance.

A tit-for-tat exchange on statistics followed with the president talking about a “one-sided story” from the opposition and criticising that no figures were given on the impact of covid-19 on the economy from those island nations.

Fritch also had a crack at the New Zealand and Australian governments which he called “the absent big brothers” for not readily helping their “free-association islands”. The president praised the French authorities for “helping” his government.

Calls by the opposition party for free tests on the entire population to have a better visibility of the virus spread and a return to a 14-day quarantine for tourists, seem to have fallen on deaf ears with the government, which described these moves as too costly.

Epidemiologist Dr Pierre-Henri Mallet described the lack of testing alarming and “dangerous” in the face of the big increase in cases, saying “it is possible that 30,000 people have already been affected by this virus and one underestimates the number of cases”.

The French authorities and the local territorial government opened the border on July 15 to tourists – mainly from the USA and France – to save the local economy with tourism representing 20,000 jobs.

The first death was on September 10.

France fighting covid-19 and impacts on Ma’ohi Nui
In France, the decisions taken by French President Emmanuel Macron in mid-October to impose curfews and a 15-day lockdown in many French cities since the beginning of November, seemed to contradict a policy that temporarily allowed French people to visit French Polynesia under the so-called priority “economic lifeline”. This was quickly abandoned.

The Fritch government says that another lockdown would be a catastrophe for the local economy, and these are some of the measures that have been taken instead:

• Strictly limiting gatherings of people, especially in public places, and the prohibition of festivals or family events;
• Closing of night clubs and “fun boats”;
• Limiting the number of customers in restaurants;
• Limiting the number of churchgoers of all faiths in places of worship; and
• Ordering mandatory mask-wearing in the city centre and in public buildings.

For Tahiti and Moorea, a curfew was put in place from 9 pm to 4 am.

For the rest of the Society archipelago, no curfew, but many shops and bars, entertainment places, and sport centres were forced to close.

French High Commissioner Dominique Sorain oversees the country’s defence and home security, with the approval of the local government.

Once again, the economy trumped the local population’s health and safety according to the independence party.

While France is striving to save both the economy and the population, President Fritch seems bound on saving the economy first in Tahiti.

Is this another déjà-vu?
It certainly looks like another case of déjà-vu, one such as the independence party reminds people about the lure of a better economy and a place in the history books promised by General Charles de Gaulle in 1964. That promise tempted the then Permanent Commission of the Territorial Assembly to offer the two atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa for nuclear testing.

There is a certain irony that covid-19 and the nuclear experimentation in French Polynesia are strikingly similar in terms of the lack of information and lack of transparency by the local government and the French authorities.

On September 15, all information about covid-19 was put on the back burner and press conferences reduced from three to one weekly in order to focus more on the late senatorial elections, silencing the effects of covid-19 on the population.

Social media users are complaining about the non-existent official numbers of the rate of patients “cured” who come out of a covid-19 hospitalisation with debilitating effects.

It has also been noted that patients who have not been in intense care unit, do display persisting health problems when coming out of hospital.

The secrecy shrouding these two problems for the Mā’ohi Nui population is therefore nothing new and history has often revealed the truth.

The Pacific diaspora lens in unmasking the secrecy
As a member of the Mā’ohi Nui diaspora living in New Zealand, it is incumbent upon us to report what we see as outsides-insiders so that our communities back in our respective archipelagos are actively informed.

To speak specifically about Mangareva, one of the concerns that might be important in terms of the death rate, are the pre-existing condition factors.

What does that mean?

Diabetes, heart conditions, obesity are some of the diseases that covid-19 festers on but, as one of the heaviest islands hit by nuclear fallout, it might be important to ascertain how many of the casualties of the coronavirus were diagnosed with radiation exposure.

Also to evaluate how such pre-existing conditions have worsened the devastation of covid-19.

As it stands, in Mangareva only three people presented symptoms and were isolated on the neighbouring islands and hopefully no casualties will come out of this.

Medical reports on the number of casualties speak predominantly of Polynesian people and it seems fair to point out that so far French metropolitans are following the health and safety measures imposed by the government.

It could also mean that being financially better off than the local Ma’ohi, the French can afford a lifestyle that poor Mā’ohi people cannot.

By disseminating the information from New Zealand, my friends from other Pacific communities are actively concerned about this issue of covid-19 devastating the local population in Mā’ohi Nui.

We are ready to support through solidarity. It is therefore very important for us to inform on these issues that are far from being resolved, but for which we can show the solidary of our Pacific people and those back home in Mā’ohi Nui.

Ena Manuireva is an Auckland University of Technology academic and PhD candidate who is from Mangareva in the Gambier Islands, a remote southern archipelago in “French” Polynesia. He is a contributor to the Pacific Media Centre’s Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The covid-19 outbreak in French Polynesia has reached Tahiti’s prison and infected 20 people.

The French High Commission said that after two cases were detected among corrections staff, tests had revealed an initial tally of 13.

A second round of testing then found another four cases among staff and three among the prisoners.

READ MORE: Updates on the covid-19 pandemic in Tahiti

While the employees were in isolation at home, the inmates had been transferred to separate premises.

The figures released by the French Polynesian government on Friday said to date there had been 1579 cases, including six deaths.

Of these cases, 1512 had been recorded after the borders were opened and mandatory quarantine requirements were abolished in July to boost tourism and revive the economy.

Meanwhile, a court in French Polynesia has thrown out a challenge to the order to wear masks brought in to stop the spread of covid-19.

The ruling came as the government announced the sixth fatality of the pandemic amid a jump in new infections.

Representing 47 individuals, lawyer Thibaud Millet had sought to quash the decrees issued by the government and the French High Commission, arguing that they were too restrictive and vague.

PNG confirms another covid case
Papua New Guinea’s confirmed cases of covid-19 has reached 532 after a new case was reported in the National Capital District (NCD) in the past 24 hours, reports RNZ Pacific.

The latest covid-19 case is a 21 year-old woman from the Gerehu suburb in the North West electorate.

She is now isolated at the Rita Flynn whilst the NCD response teams are carrying out contact tracing.

The total number of confirmed cases in NCD has reached 316, prompting calls for citizens to be on the look out for symptoms of covid-19 and get tested at the earliest.

In Guam, while the territorial government winds down some of its covid-19 restrictions the island has recorded its 39th death from the virus.

The Pacific Daily News reports a 66-year-old man was the latest fatality.

He had underlying health conditions compounded by covid and died on Thursday night at the Guam Memorial Hospital.

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

• All RNZ coverage of covid-19
• If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

French Polynesian authorities are conceding the Pacific territory of 280,000 people will probably have 100,000 cases of covid-19 by the end of the year.

Most of those affected will be young Polynesians and authorities seem comforted by this, as their medical system can cope and they expect few deaths.

There are indications of growing anger among unions, media and political parties over French handling of the pandemic in French Polynesia.

Their announcements came as covid has spiked sharply this month and in the wake of a disastrous decision by Papeete administrators to re-open their border to tourists without quarantine.

They justified it on the basis they needed to save their tourism business.

Five people have died so far. Three who died on Monday were aged 69, 77 and 79. They had been in intensive care at Taaone Hospital Center.

French High Commissioner Dominique Sorain this week announced a change of strategy.

Seven day ‘cure’
Now only people with covid symptoms will be tested and they will be considered “cured” if they no longer have symptoms after seven days.

Health Minister Jacques Raynal and Dr Henri-Pierre Mallet say that by cutting it from 14 days to seven days, they will almost halve the number of active cases in the colony.

Raynal stressed the need for social distancing and masks: “We must distance more than ever, scrupulously. Social interactions should be reduced as much as possible with friends, colleagues, uncles, aunts or cousins….

“We must not be deluded… Covid is not going to stop tomorrow morning. There is no way we will talk about containment again….”

Between November and February, authorities estimate that more than 100,000 people could be infected with covid, with a peak in January.

Contact tracing will end under the new measures.

“It will be up to each person positive for covid to contact the people with whom they have been in contact in the two days preceding the onset of symptoms,” Raynal said.

Swab testing limited
PCR swab testing will be limited to only those with symptoms.

Sorain said despite the growing numbers of cases and the increase in hospitalisation, Tahiti hospital could cope: “They can go up to 200 beds to accommodate hospitalised people and 60 intensive care beds.”

He said several new sources of contamination had emerged.

In areas of dense population authorities had sampled 400 people and found more than 100 of them were positive, and most of them had no symptoms.

“This spread of the virus occurred in mostly friendly gatherings… probably in too large a number and where vigilance has been relaxed in terms of barrier gestures,” Sorain said.

He said young people were mainly affected.

“What we must avoid is that this virus reaches the most fragile people: our parents, our grandparents, our friends, already weakened by other diseases.”

The people of French Polynesia needed to protect them, Sorain said.

• According to Worldometer, French Polynesia has had 1469 covid-19 infections and five deaths so far. Recoveries have totalled 1237.

Veteran independent journalist Michael Field has spent much of his career in the South Pacific. Along with contributing to a range of media including Nikkei Asian Review and The Spinoff, he is co-host of The Pacific Newsroom where this article was first published.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz