A longtime Bougainville politician, Joe Lera, wants to see widespread changes in the way the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) is run.

The Papua New Guinea region, which is seeking independence from Port Moresby, is holding elections in the first week of September.

Seven candidates are running for president, including Lera.

He held the regional seat in the PNG national Parliament for 10 years before resigning to contest the presidency in the 2020 election.

This time around, Lera is campaigning on what he sees as faults in the approach of the Ishmael Toroama administration and told RNZ Pacific he is offering a different tack.

JOE LERA: This time, people have seen that the current government is the most corrupt. They have addressed only one side of independence, which is the political side, the other two sides, They have not done it very well.

DON WISEMAN: What do we mean by that? We can’t bandy around words like corruption. What do you mean by corruption?

JL: What they have done is huge. They are putting public funds into personal members’ accounts, like the constituency grant – 360,000 kina a year.

DW: As someone who has operated in the national parliament, you know that that is done there as well. So it’s not corrupt necessarily, is it?

JL:Well, when they go into their personal account, they use it for their own family goods, and that development, it should be development funds. The people are not seeing the tangible outcomes in the number two side, which is the development side.

All the roads are bad. The hospitals are now running out of drugs. Doctors are checking the patients, sending them to pharmaceutical shops to buy the medicine, because the hospitals have run out.

DW: These are problems that are affecting the entire country, aren’t they, and there’s a shortage of money. So how would you solve it? What would you do differently?

JL: We will try to make big changes in addressing sustainable development, in agriculture, fishing, forestry, so we can create jobs for the small people.

Instead of talking about big, billion dollar mining projects, which will take a long time, we should start with what we already have, and develop and create opportunities for the people to be engaged in nation building through sustainable development first, then we progress into the higher billion dollar projects.

Now we are going talking about mining when the people don’t have opportunity and they are getting poorer and poorer. That’s one area, the other area, to create change we will try to fix the government structure, from ABG to community governments to village assemblies, down to the chiefs.

At the moment, the policies they have have fragmented the conduit of getting the services from the top government down to to the village people.

DW: In the past, you’ve spoken out against the push for independence, suggesting I think, that Bougainville is not ready yet, and it should take its time. Where do you stand at the moment on the independence question?

JL: The independence question? We are all for it. I’m not against it, but I’m against the process. How they are going about it. I think the answer has been already given in the Bougainville Peace Agreement, which is a joint creation between the PNG and ABG government, and the process is very clear.

Now, what the current government is doing is they are going outside of the Peace Agreement, and they are trying to shortcut based on the [referendum] result.

But the Peace Agreement doe not say independence will be given to us based on the result. What it says is, after we know the result, the two governments must continue to dialogue, consult each other and find ways of how to improve the economy, the law and order issues, the development issues.

When we fix those, the nation building pillars, we can then apply for the ratification to take place.

DW: So you’re talking about something that would be quite a way further down the line than what this current government is talking about?

JL: The issue is timing. They are putting deadlines themselves, and they are trying to push the PNG government to swallow it. The PNG government is a sovereign nation already.

We should respect and honestly, in a family room situation, negotiate, talk with them, as the Peace Agreement says, and reach understanding on the timing and other related issues, but not to even take a confrontational approach, which is what they are doing now, but take a family room approach, where we sit and negotiate in the spirit of the Peace Agreement.

This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity. Don Wiseman is a senior journalist with RNZ Pacific. This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Journalists gathered at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital expressed outrage and confusion about the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank.

“Shutting down a major outlet like Al Jazeera is a crime against journalism,” said freelance journalist Ikhlas al-Qarnawi.

“Al Jazeera coverage has documented Israeli crimes against Palestinians, especially during the ongoing genocide,” the 28-year-old journalist told Al Jazeera at the hospital, the most reliable internet connection in the Strip to file stories from.

Yesterday, the PA temporarily suspended Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank for what they described as broadcasting “inciting material and reports that were deceiving and stirring strife” in the country.

The decision came after Fatah, the Palestinian faction which dominates the PA, banned Al Jazeera from reporting from the governorates of Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya in the occupied West Bank, citing its coverage of clashes between the Palestinian security forces and Palestinian armed groups in the area.

Al Jazeera criticised the PA ban, saying the move is “in line with the [Israeli] occupation’s actions against its staff”.

‘Obscuring the truth’
Since the beginning of the war, about 150 journalists have been working from the journalists’ tents at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, for 20 local, international and Arab media outlets.

Journalists, including those from Al Jazeera, have been forced to work from hospitals after their headquarters and media offices were destroyed.

PA decision ‘shocking but hardly surprising’.   Video: Al Jazeera

Al-Aqsa TV correspondent Mohammed Issa said from the hospital that the PA’s ban contradicts international laws that guarantee journalistic freedom and could further endanger journalists.

“The PA’s decision obscures the truth and undermines the Palestinian narrative, especially a leading network like Al Jazeera,” Issa said, adding that the ban reinforces Israel’s narrative that “justifies the targeting of Palestinian journalists”.

“All media workers in Gaza reject this decision that silences the largest Arab and global outlet during critical times in years.”

Wafaa Hajjaj, an independent journalist working with TRT and Sahat, said the ban made her both “sad” and “disappointed”.

“At a time when Israel is deliberately targeting and killing … journalists in Gaza, with our Jazeera colleagues at the forefront, with no international or institutional protection, the PA’s move in the West Bank comes to worsen the situation,” Hajjaj said as she and her team walked into the hospital to interview the wounded.

Israel has killed at least 217 journalists and media workers in Gaza since the beginning of its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Four of them were Al Jazeera journalists: Samer Abudaqa, Hamza al-Dahdouh, Ismail al-Ghoul and Ahmed al-Louh.

‘Trust Al Jazeera will persist’
Although frustrated, Hajjaj told Al Jazeera that she was hopeful the PA would drop its ban “as soon as possible”.

“I trust Al Jazeera will persist despite all sanctions, as it has for years.”

Yousef Hassouna, a photojournalist with 22 years of experience, also criticised the shutting of Al Jazeera along with “any other media outlet” targeted by such bans.

“This is a violation against all of us Palestinian journalists,” he said, adding that Al Jazeera was “an essential platform” covering Israel’s war on Gaza.

“Now more than ever, we Palestinian journalists need international support and protection, not limitations or restrictions,” Hassouna said.

‘Critical mistakes’
Ismail al-Thawabtah, spokesperson for the government media bureau in Gaza, said the Palestinian Authority had committed two serious mistakes over the past few weeks.

“The first: the attack on Jenin and the resulting military confrontation with our honourable Palestinian people and the resistance forces, and the second: the closure of the Al Jazeera office,” he said, adding that the move represents “serious violations of freedom of the press”.

Al-Thawabtah said both incidents required the PA to conduct a comprehensive review of policies and positions in line with supreme national interests and respect for the “rights of our Palestinian people and their basic freedoms”.

As for the journalists gathered at Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital, they were united in their call to end the ban.

“We as journalists are completely against it. I hope that action will be taken to stop this decision immediately.” said the freelance journalist al-Qarnawi, adding that the ban hurts more than just journalists.

“Our Palestinian people are the biggest losers.”

Republished from Al Jazeera under Creative Commons.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sixty four compartments of Papua New Guinea’s main mortuary have been out of service since the festive season while a new refrigerated container has also broken down, leaving the hospital looking for room while another 257 dead bodies lie unclaimed.

Port Moresby General Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Paki Molumi confirmed with the Post-Courier that the mortuary is full and that a mass burial is expected in the next three weeks.

The storage issue at the country’s biggest hospital is recurrent despite promises and assistance from the national government, the National Capital District Commission, the NCD Provincial Health Authority, partner agencies and others.

The hospital’s Director of Medical Services Dr Koni Sobi said due to the ageing infrastructure, repairing these compartments was an issue.

“The cooling system of a particular container broke down last week,” he said.

“A contractor was engaged last week but they are unable to get inside and do repair work until we empty that container of all human bodies and body parts.

“The 64 compartments’ chiller in the main mortuary building have also been out of service since the festive season. There is a contractor working to repair it. However, it is a very old unit, needs replacing or a major rehabilitation work, which is undergoing this process at the moment,” Dr Sobi said.

Seven bodies lying in open
When the Post-Courier visited the mortuary on Wednesday, at least seven bodies were left lying outside in the open waiting for relatives to come forward.

Meanwhile, the unpleasant smell from the morgue has affected residents nearby.

Dr Sobi explained that the POMGEN mortuary workers had began shifting the bodies from the container where the cooling system had broken down to five other containers, however the other containers were also full.

“We have bodies in the morgue since September 2023. Currently there are 257 bodies and body parts.

“The smell is evident often when the container is opened to remove body or bodies.

“Preparations for another mass burial have commenced and expected to take place within the next 3 weeks,” he said.

The hospital is now appealing to relatives to come forward and collect bodies of their loved ones for burial.

Claudia Tally is a PNG Post-Courier reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As the Papua New Guinea government continues its globe trotting, the Nonga Base hospital in Rabaul, East New Britain province, is facing a crisis with no morgue cooling chamber for the last five years.

The dead are piled on top of each other and are put into chest freezers that cannot hold more than four bodies at any given time.

The hospital’s morgue is currently the only mortuary in the province that caters for more than 400,000 people.

Hospital manager Dr Osiat Baining confirmed the hospital’s dilemma, saying that the faulty cooling chamber forced the hospital into purchasing nine chest freezers to cater for the dead.

Dead bodies are put in body bags and piled on top of each other and stored in large chest freezers inside the morgue.

The PNG Post-Courier was informed that Health Secretary Dr Osborne Liko is in the process of getting appropriate information on the issue and a detailed response will be made later.

The newspaper understands that given the autonomy of the Provincial Health Authority (PHA), the chief executives of the hospital and the PHA are the appropriate people to speak to.

Faulty cooling chamber
Dr Baining confirmed with the Post-Courier yesterday that the hospital morgue’s cooling chamber had been faulty and was in need of new parts that could only be purchased overseas.

“It’s been faulty for more than five years already, so we have been using chest freezers,” he said.

“We have about eight to nine chest freezers. For capacity, one chest freezer can hold up to four dead bodies.

“We have been trying to get a new [cooling] chamber because we don’t have parts available in the country for the one we have. Its an old one too and needs to be replaced,” he said.

Dr Baining added that a cooling chamber of 12 cabinets could cost almost 1 million kina  (NZ$465,000) and plans are underway by the hospital to get new cooling chambers for its morgue.

“We are actually in the process of getting a new one but at the moment we need funding, as well a supplier for it.

Depends on state budget
“It really depends on the government, on what budget they give us.

“If they give us enough for what we ask for, otherwise we cannot really get most of the things we need.”

Meanwhile, the diener, or “morgue man” at Rabaul Provincial Hospital’s morgue, Kero Kalang, said the biggest challenge of his job was getting dead bodies every day at his doorstep.

He said he was constantly concerned about space and appealed to responsible authorities like the Provincial Health Authority if another mortuary, like Port Moresby and Lae’s Funeral Home, could be set up in the province.

Dianne Wilson is a PNG Post-Courier journalist. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Young families are the clear target of Labour’s election-year Budget, but its flagship promise – cheaper childcare – will not kick in until next year.

The 2023 Budget — billed as a “no frills” affair — is set against a volatile economic backdrop with the government now forecast to return to surplus a year later than expected.

In a statement, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said his first Budget would provide relief from the sharp cost of living without exacerbating inflation “as tax cuts would”.

“Budget 2023 isn’t fancy, nor should it be . . .  it’s a carefully calibrated package that deals with the here and now pressures, while also laying the foundation for real long-term benefits.”

‘Support for today’
The Budget extends cheaper childcare to parents of two-year-olds, giving them access to 20 hours a week of free early childhood education (ECE). That support currently kicks in for children from the age of three.

For eligible families, the extension could save them more than $130 a week in childcare costs for an extra year.

They will have to wait, however, until March next year — critically after the election — for the $1.2 billion package to come into effect.

Speaking during the lock-up at Parliament, Finance Minister Grant Robertson told RNZ the delay was primarily due to administrative reasons.

From July this year, public transport will be made free for all children under 13 and will remain half-price for passengers aged 13 to 24. That initiative is costed at about $327 million over four years.

The existing discount on bus, train and ferry fares will expire for most other people at the end of June, except for Community Service Card holders. As signalled, the accompanying fuel discount will finish at the same time.

Most prescription medicine will be made completely free from July, with the government scrapping the current $5 charge at a cost of about $619 million over four years.

‘Building for tomorrow’
The government has committed $71 billion of infrastructure spending over the next five years — that is money for building schools, hospitals, public housing, roads, etc. The spend is up about 60 percent from the $45 billion spent over the previous same period.

On top of that, another $6 billion has been set aside for a National Resilience Plan with an initial focus on future-proofing road, rail and other infrastructure wiped out by extreme weather.

Three new multi-institution research hubs will be set up in Wellington at a cost of $451 million. Each will focus on a different subject: Climate change, health, and technology.

A new 20 percent rebate will be made available for game development studios who spend at least $250,000 a year in New Zealand as an incentive to keep them from moving abroad. Individual studios will be eligible for up to $3 million a year in rebates.

Tax, tax, tax
As promised, the Budget does not include any major new taxes or tax cuts, but it does increase the trustee tax rate from 33 percent to 39 percent — in line with the top personal tax rate.

Revenue Minister David Parker said the discrepancy was currently allowing super-wealthy taxpayers to funnel their income through trusts to avoid paying their fair share of tax.

Both Inland Revenue and Treasury had recommended the change when Labour introduced the new top personal tax rate in 2021.

The trustee tax hike is estimated to raise about $350 million a year, beginning in April next year.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Governor Lukas Enembe of Indonesia’s Melanesian province of Papua has been banned from travelling abroad by the state Directorate General of Immigration, Ministry of Law and Human Rights, preventing him undergoing vital medical treatment in the Philippines.

Governor Enembe, 55, was due to go to Manila this month. However, his hope of getting treatment there has been dashed by the ban from the Directorate General of Immigration.

The order preventing any overseas trip to Governor Lukas Enembe is in force until 7 March 2023.

It was issued in response to a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) request to ban the governor from any overseas trip.

“Directorate of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement of the Directorate General of Immigration accepts the submission for prevention to subject an. Lukas Enembe from the Corruption Eradication Commission on Wednesday, September 7, 2022. Prevention is valid for six months,” said the Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement, I Nyoman Gede Surya Mataram in Jakarta.

Tabloid Jubi reports that during spontaneous demonstrations in protest by Enembe’s supporters in Jayapura last Monday over the steps taken by the KPK, Enembe’s lawyer, Stevanus Roy Rening, said governor was due to leave for his medical treatment that day.

“Last night, the Governor [explained] that it was actually Monday that he is supposed to leave [for treatment]. I repeat again, let the people know.

‘Roy, I’m sick’
“Governor said, ‘Roy, I’m sick. I have got permission from the Minister of Home Affairs. I said, ‘Sir, not yet, please delay! There is a letter from the KPK for you to attend on Monday’,” Rening.

Rening was worried that if Enembe left for treatment abroad on Monday, public opinion would form that Lukas Enembe had run away. However, Governor Enembe said he had never stolen the public’s money, so he would never be afraid.

“[I said], ‘later when you left, it will be said that Lukas Enembe is afraid, running away’. [He replied], ‘Roy, I am the leader of the Papuans. I’ve never been afraid, I’ve never corrupted’,” Rening said, reiterating Enembe’s explanation.

#Papuan #protesters warn #Jakarta – ‘don’t criminalise’ Governor Enembe #AsiaPacificReport #WestPapua #Indonesia @westpapuamedia @PNGAttitude @jasonbrown1965 @BennyWenda @LaurensIkinia https://t.co/zhrTkMWtsE pic.twitter.com/L5ha0lvn44

— David Robie (@DavidRobie) September 16, 2022

Governor Enembe’s personal medical physician, Dr Antonius Mote, said Governor Lukas Enembe was still ill.

The heavy pressure had caused health reactions such as swollen feet that make it difficult Governor Enembe.

According to Dr Mote as the Pacific Pos reports, in the last 6 months the governor began to experience several illnesses such as stroke, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and kidney complications.

He has routinely undergone check-ups in hospitals in Singapore and Manila, Philippines.

Return needed for medical
Dr Mote said that the governor should have returned to the doctor in Singapore for a medical appointment but this was cancelled because of a summons for an interview by the KPK.

“We really ask for his right to get medical treatment, in this case, he can go to a hospital abroad. Because he was very worried, the pressure he experienced could worsen his health condition,” said Dr Mote.

In response to the request from the Governor Enembe’s lawyer Rening over the treatment overseas, the Deputy Chair of the KPK, Alexander Marwata, said this would be facilitated — with certain conditions, reports Tempo.

Marwata gave the Governor an option to seek treatment at the Army Central Hospital or Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Jakarta.

“If the disease can be treated in Indonesia, why do you have to go abroad?,” said Marwata.

Marwata said a doctor would decide whether Enembe could be treated in Indonesia or must go abroad for treatment.

If doctors in Indonesia “raised their hands”, he said, the KPK would grant Enembe permission to go abroad for treatment.

Chasing alleged ‘corruption’
Lawyer Rening said the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) seemed to be trying to find a case of alleged corruption involving Governor Enembe.

“It [has been] proven [by Luke Enembe]. During his [leadership] period, all audit results of [Regional Revenue and Expenditure Budget by] have been vetted by the Supreme Audit Agency [gained opinion]. There was no element of corruption found,” said Rening.

The Papuan Governor’s spokesperson, Rifai Darus, said the Governor’s home was still being closely guarded by thousands of people and close relatives of Enembe.

“He [Governor Enembe] asked not to have too many people there and asked them to return to their homes. These people came alone, without being asked, after seeing the information circulating on social media regarding the ‘criminalisation’ of the Governor,” said Darus.

He added that the Governor had also said the ongoing legal process was a “political struggle” and asked not to “politicise the situation”.

“He knows very well that the current situation is a process of ‘criminalising’ him by making the KPK the ‘front’ to deal with this case. The Governor has the right as stated in the 1945 Constitution Article 48a  that everyone has the right to live and defend his life,” said Darus.

The president of the Communion of Baptist Churches in West Papua, Dr Socratez Yoman, has revealed to news media that the KPK had three times tried to criminalise Governor Enembe.

‘Purely political goal’
“The effort to ‘criminalise’ Papuan Governor Lukas Enembe is purely a political goal or agenda for [the elections in] 2024, not a legal issue,” he said.

Reverend Yoman believes that other political parties in Indonesia felt “uncomfortable and insecure” about entering the political process in 2024 in Papua Province.

“So far, there have been people who have seen, observed and felt that the presence of Governor Enembe is a threat and obstacle for other political parties to become ‘number one’ in Papua province.

Reverend Yoman said there was no other way to “destroy the strong fortress” of the Governor Enembe, who is  chair of the Democratic DPD of Papua province. So the KPK was being used by certain political parties to ‘criminalise’ Enembe.

“On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, I met Governor Enembe at his residence in Koya Timur and he told me, Mr Yoman, the problem is now clear. It’s not a legal issue, it’s a political issue.

“Pak Budi Gunawan, the head of BIN (State Intelligence Agency) and PDIP (Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle) used the KPK to criminalise me. Mr Yoman, you should write an article so that everyone would know about this crime.

“How come state institutions can become tools for certain political parties,” Reverend Yoman quoted Governor Enembe as saying.

Money left for medical expenses
On that occasion, the Governor of Papua also conveyed about Rp 1 billion [NZ$112,000] to Socratez Yoman, where in March 2019, the Governor left for Jakarta at night because his health was getting worse.

This was during the covid-19 lockdown.

“When Enembe left, he kept Rp. 1 billion in the room. After three months in Jakarta, in May 2019, the Governor called Tono, who used to look after and organise Enembe’s house and yard.

“I asked Tono to go to my room and take the money in the room with a value of 1 billion. I asked Tono to send it through a BCA account. That’s my money, not money from corruption. This KPK is just claiming anything,” said Reverend Yoman quoting Governor Enembe.

Reverend Yoman appealed for support and prayers for Governor Enembe and his family.

Laurens Ikinia is a Papuan Masters in Communication Studies student at Auckland University of Technology who has been studying journalism. He contributes to Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Aotearoa New Zealand will remain at the red covid-19 traffic light setting, says Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Ardern made the announcement at today’s post-cabinet media briefing.

She said the rolling average of cases had declined 36 percent in the two weeks since the government refined the traffic light system.

There had been early data showing an uptick since mid-March in people visiting places of retail and recreation in Auckland, as well as more people returning to workplaces, she said.

While cases were dropping in Auckland, Wellington and Tairāwhiti, others region like Canterbury, Northland and Waikato were not experiencing the same drop. Hospitalisations in some DHBs were not expected to peak until mid- to late-April.

“So for now, New Zealand will remain at red,” Ardern said.

“I know there is an eagerness to move to orange, but we are still frankly amid an outbreak and there is still pressure across our hospital network.”

Nine further deaths
The Ministry of Health today reported 10,205 new community cases of covid-19 and nine further deaths.

There are now 734 people in hospital, including 25 in ICU or HDU.

In a statement, the ministry said the seven-day rolling average of case numbers was continuing to decline — down to 13,218 from last Monday’s 16,102.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said health officials would not be looking at a specific number of hospitalisations when advising a move down to the orange setting, but would rather be considering capacity and pressure levels, which also includes staffing at hospitals.

The next review of the traffic light settings will be on Thursday, April 14.

The country will remain at the red Covid-19 traffic light setting, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says.

Ardern made the announcement at today’s post-Cabinet media briefing from about 4pm.

Based on health advice
Ardern said the decision today was based on health advice, and the government did not want to move too quickly and lose the progress made.

“It’s less about the case numbers and more about the hospitalisations.”

Asked why Auckland could not move to orange when cases were falling, Ardern said that while there was a decline in hospitalisations, “it is off a high base, the numbers are still relatively high, the pressure on our system is still there, we want to make sure that we’re in the best possible position and we don’t lose the gains we’ve worked so hard for.

“We’ve always said that there is the possibility of moving regions to different levels at different times … but as we’ve said, Auckland has made significant progress but we do still have a relatively high hospitalisation rate.

“We need to look after our healthcare workforce.”

The country needed to help the health system recover and be ready for the expected winter surge, Ardern said, requesting that people get boosted.

“Unvaccinated and people that are not boosted make up a disproportionate number of people in our hospitals. More than 9900 people are due their booster today, please get your booster as soon as you can.”

Looking at overall trends
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ Checkpoint tonight there were a range of considerations cabinet would have to take account of in its April 14 review.

“We’re obviously looking at the overall trends … how many new hospital admissions as well as those who are in hospital – but also the demographics,” he said.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A Whanganui iwi leader says the Aotearoa New Zealand government’s decision to ease covid-19 measures at this time is a disgrace and shocking.

He is warning Māori to stay vigilant against omicron and prepare for more to come.

Tūpoho chair Ken Mair says Māori must continue to be extremely careful and take precautions against covid-19, despite the government’s new strategy to begin living with the virus.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said gathering limits would ease before the weekend, with no limit for outside venues and gatherings of up to 200 allowed inside.

Vaccine passes and scanning would no longer be needed from April 4, and mandates would be scrapped for all except those in the health and aged care sectors, Corrections and at the border.

But Mair said the country was far from out of the woods, as shown by the number of daily covid-19 cases being reported — with 11 new deaths and 18,423 infections.

“It just seems crazy that the government are putting in place this strategy right now, at the worst time in regard to the high numbers of omicron within our community. It’s extremely dangerous,” Mair said.

Radio NZ News reports that Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said Māori had the highest rate of community cases of covid-19, overtaking Pacific people at 28 per 1000. Rates for NZ European and Asian ethic groups is 21 per 1000.

‘Where’s the Māori lens?’
“Where’s the Māori lens over this? Certainly, within our community there are hundreds [of cases] and there are a number in hospital.

“I just can’t understand a strategy where there hasn’t been any real analysis with substance in regard to the impact upon iwi, hapū and Māori, noting that we’re an extremely vulnerable community in the context of respiratory and asthma ailments.”

Mair said he understood some Māori leaders had been in discussion with the government and had made recommendations for the new strategy, but it appeared they had been ignored.

“I’ve been deeply concerned over the last couple of months where there doesn’t appear to be a strong Māori voice coming through or anything that might indicate that the government have a clear understanding of the ramifications of their decision around the covid strategy.

“This is a classic example — decisions being made right in the midst of cases going up, new variants around the corner, without understanding the impact and implications for Māori. I just think that’s a disgrace and shocking.”

Mair said he thought the strategy had been politicised, with Labour’s polling and political pressure the key factors.

“What motivates you to put in place an extremely dangerous strategy? You can only assume the motivation’s around political expediency and the impact upon economic wellbeing, without having the health lens driving your decision making.

Risk for vulnerable ignored
“The decisions by the prime minister and the government clearly have not taken into account the real vulnerability of Māori, and I think Māori, iwi and hapū have to be extremely careful in this precarious time.”

Yesterday, the prime minister said restrictions were being eased because it was safe to do so. Mair said this ignored the risk that remained for the vulnerable and sent the wrong message.

“I think because of the government’s strategy, people are saying things like: well, we’re going to get it anyway, it doesn’t matter, let’s get on with it and get back to normality as quickly as possible.

“The problem with those comments, of course, is the vulnerability of our Māori community, hapū and iwi is extremely high.

“I think our community in general is beginning to take a kind of defeatist approach and we should be, I think, extremely careful and vigilant in regard to dealing with this omicron.

“I have no doubt in my mind there’ll be more variants around the corner and we should always be prepared.”

Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air. Asia Pacific Report is a community partner.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s Director-General of Health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, says covid-19 case numbers have passed their peak in Auckland, the country’s largest city, but that people should remain vigilant.

Dr Bloomfield said there were 20,907 new community cases of covid-19, a further 15 deaths and 1016 people in hospital in today.

He said the latest analysis showed covid-19 case numbers had passed their peak in Auckland, and were tracking down in all three district health boards.

Dr Bloomfield said that analysis also showed case numbers nationally — not including Auckland — were also slowing. They increased just 1 percent in the seven days to March 20, compared to a 44 percent increase in the week ending March 13.

The pattern did differ by DHB, with cases still increasing in the South Island, although there were encouraging signs they were peaking in the Midland region and in the Wellington region.

He said case numbers appeared to be largely now following the modelling for a high-transmission scenario. Case numbers were higher than the modelling suggested, and Dr Bloomfield said this may be because most cases in New Zealand were the BA.2 subvariant.

Hospitalisations in the northern region were also levelling off.

“We’re watching carefully and the expectation is that they will start to drop as the week progresses,” Dr Bloomfield said.

“The average length of stay for people on wards in the Auckland hospitals who have been discharged is now 3.2 days compared to just over two days last month, and the average stay in intensive care is five days.

“This increase in average length of stay reflects that we’re now seeing that people who are needing longer care, they may even be over their covid infection but they have symptoms that need to be managed, often from underlying conditions.”

Watch the update 

Video: RNZ News

Dr Bloomfield said that even though cases in hospital in Auckland were staying high, the number of new admissions each day was dropping quickly. But because those being admitted now were sicker and required longer care in hospital, the total number of people in hospital remained fairly steady.

Emergency department admissions testing positive remain highest at Middlemore, but they had fallen from 40 percent last month to 28 percent now. Auckland Hospital was down from 30 percent to 22 percent, while Waitematā was steady about 18 percent.

Whangārei’s ED positivity rate was still increasing, he said.

“Admissions in the rest of the country are growing and we will continue to see them grow.”

Dr Bloomfield said hospitalisation rates during the delta outbreak was about 8 percent, whereas the omicron outbreak had been about 0.9 percent.

“That hospitalisation rate will appear to increase over coming weeks, because as the cases drop yet people remain in hospital we’ll see the denominator decline much quicker … hospitalisations will decline but more slowly,” he said.

“The number of deaths each day is also likely to increase and will take longer to decline.”

He said staffing shortages were a major pressure on the health system, and there was real pressure in hospitals as well as care in the community, including rest homes.

‘Covid isn’t done with the world just yet’
Dr Bloomfield said New Zealand could expect ongoing waves of covid, and looking across the Tasman was instructive.

“The number of people hospitalised with covid in New South Wales never dropped below 950 after their first omicron wave … it’s now back over 1000 as cases started to increase again.

“In contrast, in Victoria the number of hospitalisations declined down to around 200 and remained steady there … so two quite different pictures.”

He said this showed New Zealand should expect to see a residual number of cases and people in hospital.

The UK had seen increased case numbers with the BA.2 subvariant, with Scotland hit hardest.

“Case numbers there are just below their previous peak, and hospitalisation figures the highest they have been since 2020. Globally it’s likely there will continue to be further waves of omicron and likewise there will be new variants of concern.”

He said New Zealand would face these just as other countries would.

“Covid isn’t done with the world just yet.”

Looking ahead
Tomorrow the government is due to announce if it will relax mandates, vaccine passes and the traffic light system as the omicron outbreak passes its peak in Auckland. Cabinet discussed reducing the restrictions yesterday.

Ahead of the announcement, Dr Bloomfield said New Zealand was still in the middle of a global pandemic which had thrown curveballs before and would continue to.

“We need to be prepared to redeploy the measures that we already have in place or have used in the past.”

He said there was a balance between protecting the population — particularly vulnerable groups — and only using restrictions for the extent they were needed.

At the moment, total ICU and HDU beds were about 60 percent occupied, he said. Each day hospitals were looking at the number of beds available and staffing those accordingly.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The clamour in New Zealand to ditch vaccine passes and change the traffic light setting is poorly timed, an epidemiologist says.

The number of covid-19 deaths is on the rise, with nine reported today.

One thousand people are now in hospital, including 26 in ICU, the highest number yet in intensive care.

University of Auckland epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson said the worst may be yet to come.

It is “too soon to relax”, although the country is nearing its peak, Professor Jackson said.

He said the push for change is “politicking” and not many businesses want to remove vaccine passes at present.

He told RNZ Morning Report that looking around the world other countries did not go straight up and down with their peaks and New Zealand would be at risk of “yo-yoing around” if vaccine passes and other public health interventions were removed too soon.

Vaccine passes should be retained until it was clear that the omicron outbreak was just about over, he said.

‘We’re at the top’
“We’re at the top at the moment. It makes absolutely no sense to remove any effective public health measures when we’re still at the top.

“It’s crazy. I think it’s political nonsense to be pushing to take them away now.”

Professor Jackson said more than 1 million New Zealanders still needed to get their booster. As well, the unvaccinated were twice as likely to catch covid-19, three times as likely to transmit it than fully boosted people and five times more likely to be in hospital.

“We’re not over it yet … those relatively small numbers of people, when you do all of those multiplications, they are sufficient to overwhelm our health system.”

He referred to what was happening in the UK and parts of Australia where there were rising case numbers.

“I know there’s huge pressure to take away the vaccine passes but I think it’s a mistake.”

Professor Jackson said it was business which forced the government to introduce vaccine mandates and he did not believe they were hugely in favour of taking them away now.

“I think this is politicking.”

Makes no sense
It did not make sense to change the traffic light setting in the next few days either.

“We’ve got more people in hospital today than we’ve ever had. We’ve got more deaths than we’ve ever had.

“It just doesn’t make any sense to be relaxing public health measures that have proven to be incredibly effective at the peak of an outbreak.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report that the traffic light system must be “no more restrictive” than needed and mandates would not be as necessary after the first omicron wave.

Cabinet was meeting today to review vaccine mandates, vaccine passports and the traffic light system, though any decisions will not be announced until Wednesday.

Watch the PM talking to Morning Report

The changes will mark the biggest domestic shake up to covid-19 restrictions since omicron arrived on Aotearoa’s shores.

“We know that in the future we’re likely to have have additional waves of omicron… We’re already seeing that in other countries,” Ardern said.

“So let’s make sure we get the covid protection framework, that traffic light system, right for the future.

“We want it to be no more restrictive than it needs to be, so if there are areas we can pare it back, we will.”

She said that with a highly vaccinated population the government believed mandates and vaccine passes would no longer be as necessary once the omicron outbreak had peaked.

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Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

An Auckland nurse says a lucrative incentive payment has not fixed the city’s dire hospital staffing shortage in Aotearoa New Zealand’s current covid-19 outbreak.

Nurses, midwives and others employed by the region’s district health boards (DHBs) have been entitled to an extra $500 on top of their normal pay for extra shifts overnight.

The scheme is being reviewed today and the clinical director in charge of co-ordinating the city’s health response, Dr Andrew Old, said it would continue if it was needed to address staffing shortages.

Dr Old said going into the pandemic Auckland’s hospitals had about 15 percent staff vacancies across the board which meant starting from a challenging position.

“So you then layer on top of that the challenge of Covid and it really has stretched the city.”

A nurses’ union delegate at Waitematā DHB, Di McCulloch, said while the $500 incentive scheme was popular, it had not been good for nursing overall because it led to exhausted workers and did not fix the staffing problems.

She said the nursing situation was dire.

Influx of unwell patients
“We continue to have an influx of unwell patients that normally enter the hospital and this has been compounded by omicron.”

She said once the subsidy ends the nursing shortages will continue and the DHBs will continue to redeploy non-clinical staff to fill the staffing gaps in wards.

Dr Old acknowledged how tired hospital staff in Auckland are.

“You know this has been going on for two years and the intensity has really stepped up in the last couple of weeks and I think certainly the city and the country are incredibly well served by the professionalism of the health workforce.”

Dr Old said the $500 payment was being reviewed today and there was the potential for it to be extended.

It aimed to ensure staff were available, particularly for hard to fill shifts such as overnights, he said.

“Look, we recognise people are tired, we’re asking them to go above and beyond and it’s just a recognition of the fact that actually everyone is really stretched.”

Hospitals just managing
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists executive director Sarah Dalton described the current situation as a crisis and said hospitals were only just managing.

“People are going above and beyond, they’re doing everything they can to keep it safe for patients, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a crisis, it doesn’t mean that the entrenched short staffing that we were trying to deal with before covid hasn’t made this almost impossible to deal with.”

It was not just Auckland and a lot of surgery and outpatient appointments were being cancelled around the country, she said.

McCulloch said the border closure had made the nursing shortages worse because in the past there had been a reliance on internationally qualified nurses (IQN).

“So it’s become an ongoing issue, this has been going on for years within nursing and the nursing voice are saying that we are tired, we are exhausted, we are short-staffed daily on the ground.”

But McCulloch said that had “not been heard by the powers that be”.

In terms of dealing with New Zealand’s ongoing nursing shortage, McCulloch said New Zealand needed to keep its new nursing graduates working here.

She said that could mean bonding newly qualified nurses to working in New Zealand for a minimum of two years.

Auckland hospitals put care on hold
Auckland hospitals have put all but the most urgent care on hold to allow them to focus on covid-19 patients.

At the same time they are managing with 25 percent fewer staff as covid-19 cases continue to rise.

There were 19,566 cases and 930 people in hospital with the virus yesterday, more than two thirds of them in Auckland. Ten new covid-related deaths were also reported, taking the total to 151.

Dr Old said the region was grappling with peak hospitalisations and staff shortages due to the omicron outbreak.

“We’re in the eye of the storm now, so with cases thankfully coming down a bit but peak hospitalisations coinciding with near peak staff needing to be off to support their own family or off with covid themselves.”

But Dr Old said the number of staff vacancies due to covid-19 was starting to come down as coronavirus numbers start to drop and he was hopeful that things would improve this week.

He said there had been some limited cases of covid-19 positive staff working at Auckland hospital’s as the region dealt with the peak.

Serious challenges
“Those have been people where without them coming back we would have had serious challenges keeping those services going and so yes, coming back into environments where they’re only dealing with covid positive patients.”

Dalton said it was appalling to be in a position where in limited circumstances employers are encouraging staff unwell with covid-19 to go back to work.

“What they’re saying is they’re only doing that in covid settings and where otherwise there would be risk to life and limb effectively, so it’s a life preserving service.

“But to think that we’re in such a fragile state in terms of staffing that that has to be part of cover at the moment is really distressing.”

Dr Old stressed that urgent care was still available at the region’s hospitals.

“But anything that can be deferred essentially over the last couple of weeks really has been, so that’s pretty much all out-patient activity … and almost all planned surgery as well.”

Challenging to get support to South Auckland families
Auckland Pacific health and social service provider The Fono said it was run off its feet keeping up with the demands of a community struck by covid-19.

Chief executive Tevita Funaki said the service was looking after more than 900 active cases at one time.

“It’s not just the health challenges but also the whole welfare support and food and also other needs of the families.”

The service also had a number of staff getting sick or isolating due to covid-19.

The Fono had been using the network of churches in the Pacific community to distribute what was needed for families, Tevita said.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s Ministry of Health has reported 19,542 new cases of covid-19 in the community and 24 more deaths today.

The ministry said eight people had died with covid-19 yesterday, while a further 16 people had died in the past three weeks.

“Local public health authorities have notified these deaths to the ministry in the past 24 hours as part of changes to the reporting of deaths announced last week. Delays to reporting can be associated with people dying with, rather than of covid-19, and covid being discovered after they have died,” the statement said.

The minister in charge of New Zealand’s covid-19 response has also now himself tested positive for the coronavirus.

Tweeting an image of a rapid antigen test, Chris Hipkins said: “The faint line seems out of keeping with how I currently feel!

“Day 7 of isolation and now it’s my turn. So I’ll be clocking off for another 7 days. Take care out there everyone.”

The faint line seems out of keeping with how I currently feel! Day 7 of isolation and now it’s my turn. So I’ll be clocking off for another 7 days. Take care out there everyone. pic.twitter.com/9wt8u7oe3o

— Chris Hipkins (@chrishipkins) March 15, 2022

Hipkins would normally have fronted today’s covid-19 update, but the media conference has been cancelled for today.

MPs testing positive
Hipkins is the latest of several MPs to have tested positive, including Environment Minister David Parker, Police Minister Poto Williams, opposition National Party leader Christopher Luxon and National MP Simon Bridges.

In the ministry’s report today, a person in their 40s was one of the people with Covid-19 whose death was reported today, while another person was in their 50s. The others include four in their 60s, three in their 70s, eight in their 80s and six in their 90s.

Eleven were women and twelve were men. The ministry said the average age was 79 and this had been increasing over the last week.

Eight of the 24 deaths reported today were people who died at aged residential care facilities.

The total number of deaths of people with covid-19 is now 141.

The rolling seven-day average of deaths over the past seven days is seven, up from four yesterday.

The ministry said the trend of increasing numbers of deaths was sadly not unexpected.

Higher numbers
“As has occurred with omicron overseas, while covid-19 cases are usually seen in higher numbers among younger people early in the outbreak, over time the more severe and fatal consequences of the virus fall disproportionately on our older and more vulnerable populations.”

There are 971 people in hospital, 21 of whom are in ICU. The average age of the people with covid-19 in hospital is 57.

There were also 17 new cases identified at the border.

Yesterday there were 21,616 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the community and two more deaths. There were 960 people in hospital.

Asia Pacific Report adds: Covid-19 modeller Professor Michael Plank was quoted in news reports as indicating the ethnicity of cases could increase the number of severe cases.

Māori make up about 17 percent of the 5 million population, but 20 percent of all cases, and 25 percent of those hospitalised, reports the New Zealand Herald.

Pasifika make up 8 percent of the population, but 21 percent of all cases and 38 percent of those hospitalised.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield and Royal NZ College of General Practitioners president Dr Samantha Murton gave a briefing today on the government’s response to the omicron outbreak as hospital cases continue to climb.

The daily number of new community cases has dropped slightly today to 21,015 community cases, but the number of people in hospital with the coronavirus continues to rise, reaching 845.

There are now more people in hospital with covid-19 than at any other point over the past two years, the Ministry of Health said.

Today’s numbers are down compared to yesterday’s 22,454 and 742 hospitalisations, with a record 19 cases in ICU.

Speaking at today’s briefing, Dr Murton said 80 percent of GPs were now looking after more than 20 patients.

“It has put a huge amount of work on general practice. When you think about the fact that there are 20,000 people who have got covid every day and across the country 50,000 consultations normally happen every day, that’s a 50 percent increase in workload if we had to deal with every one of those 20,000 that came through,” she said.

‘Huge amount of work’
“It has put a huge amount of work on general practice. When you think about the fact that there are 20,000 people who have got covid every day and across the country 50,000 consultations normally happen every day, that’s a 50 percent increase in workload if we had to deal with every one of those 20,000 that came through,” she said.

“My colleagues want me to remind everyone that we are working really hard, doing our best for our patients and although we are prepared and have done the best we can do for when the outbreak occurred, it is still going to be a little bit messy for the next couple of weeks.”

Watch the media briefing

Video: RNZ News

She said that was because there were people who wanted care and then people who needed care and were “quite vulnerable”.

Those vulnerable people will be the ones GPs are focusing on, she said.

“The other thing we have found is that across the country, people are stressed.

“People are stressed about having covid, people are stressed about being isolated, about not being able to go out, about having family members who might be sick and the practices are under pressure to provide as much care as they can and so that stress can often end up with a lot of anxiety and peoples’ emotions might flare, to put it politely.

“My colleagues have suggested people be kind to their providers.

‘Have a bit of patience’
“Please have a bit of patience as patients.”

She also put out a reminder that booster vaccine shots were the best protection people could get.

Auckland hospitals have reported that they are dealing with far more covid-19 cases than even their worst case scenarios predicted, with daily case numbers as high as 533 across the city’s hospitals this week.

In Wellington, frontline care workers are operating around the clock to help the more than 17,000 people across the region who are isolating at home and in need of some level of assistance.

Canterbury District Health Board is already teetering on patient capacity, three weeks away from an expected peak of covid-19 cases.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins has announced that the isolation period for covid-19 cases and their household contacts is reducing to one week, down from 10 days, from tomorrow.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Hospitals across New Zealand are receiving anti-covid-19 mandate protesters returning from Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

There were mounting tensions at the Parliament protest today, where police have formed a line to keep protesters back.

More people have turned up in Wellington to join the event.

Officers are trying to block access for cars into the bus interchange area and are using a forklift to reposition concrete bollards.

Some protesters are driving past the area, shouting at police to leave.

Meanwhile, hospitals are now reporting visits from protesters returning from the anti-covid-19 mandate protest at Parliament, and are pleading with those experiencing cold and flu symptoms to get tested and isolate.

The Ministry of Health said hospitals throughout the country had reported visits from people who have been at the anti-mandate protest at Parliament before returning home.

Widespread disruptions
Thousands of protesters have occupied the grounds of Parliament and nearby Wellington central streets since their convoy arrived on February 7 creating widespread disruptions, with many ignoring social distancing rules and not wearing masks.

The occupation is now a location of interest after people infectious with covid-19 were confirmed to be among the crowd, and anyone who is there on the listed times and dates is asked to carefully monitor for symptoms, and follow instructions about what to do next if they have any.

In a statement today, the ministry said the protest was a potential super spreader event as the spread of omicron hit a new record of 13,606 community cases today.

Five of the 263 people in hospital with the coronavirus were in intensive care.

Early in the protest leading epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker of Otago University warned this could happen, saying people mixing with groups from outside their household, singing, eating together and sharing transport and accommodation was a recipe for the spread of omicron from those at the protest out to other communities.

Yesterday police called on protesters to take children home, saying the event was not safe for families.

More than 130 people have been arrested at the event, and media have reported Corrections has confirmed they have been monitoring a “small number” of criminals subject to GPS monitoring conditions who were at the event.

‘Reassurance patrols’
Sewage leaks and assaults have also been connected to the event.

Police are carrying out “reassurance patrols” for residents that live near the protest at parliament today, and said officers would continue to be visible at the protest site.

“The focus for police is to contain the current perimeters of the protest and continue to maintain a safe community for our Wellington residents,” they said.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson is urging New Zealanders to take omicron seriously, and certainly not to think of it as similar to the flu.

The warning comes as new modelling shows omicron could peak by mid next month with about 4000 daily cases.

Professor Jackson, professor of epidemiology at Auckland University, told RNZ Morning Report there was “no doubt” New Zealanders were not taking omicron seriously.

“The standard thing I hear these days is, ‘Oh, this is just a mild condition, it’s like a mild flu’ — and it’s just not true,” he said.

“In the [United] States, for example, more people have died from omicron, than died from delta. It’s also worth noting that I mean if you ever had a bad flu, you feel like you want to die.

“It’s not a particularly good comparison. The flu kills 500 people a year. Normally that’s almost double the road crash death rate. It’s about the same as suicide, just a bit less.

“This is a serious disease that people need to take seriously.”

High omicron death rate
The high omicron death rate in the US was because the variant was so contagious, Dr Jackson said.

“It spreads like wildfire, and I guess that’s the other important issue when we’re thinking about the comparison between the flu and and Omicron is that the R value, the number of people that one infected person with the flu is going to infect, is less than two.

“With omicron, we don’t even know how big it is. It’s certainly much bigger than delta, which was about six (people infected per person), so this is a very different disease from the flu and we need to take it seriously.

“We need to go out and get maximally vaccinated.”

On that point, Dr Jackson said there were a likely a lot of reasons more people had not got a booster shot.

“One is, we’re all a little over it, aren’t we? Everyone is tired. Everyone wants to go back to normal.

“Secondly there is this general view is that I hear — ‘Oh, but isn’t omicron, you know, just like a cold?’

‘People die of this’
“For some people, it’s very mild. For some people it’s asymptomatic, but people die of this.

“Look at the hospital rates. Every New Zealander should have a look at the graph of the number of hospitalisations, and if you look at it in the last week or two, it’s going almost vertically.

“There’s a couple of things we really need to do – get maximally vaccinated and wear a good mask.”

Today the Ministry of Health confirmed 3297 new cases of covid-19 in the community in New Zealand, with 179 people in hospital with the coronavirus, including one in intensive care.

There were also eight new cases in managed isolation today.

Yesterday the Ministry of Health reported 2846 covid-19 cases in the community and 143 people in hospital with the virus.

There have now been 38,951  cases of covid-19 in New Zealand.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster said that police staff working at the anti-mandate protest outside Parliament had contracted covid-19.

He said while they could not link transmission to the protest, with people coming far and wide for the demonstration, he would be surprised if there was no covid among protesters.

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