There is global concern and widespread alarm at the discovery of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.1.529, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) has called omicron.

The WHO classified omicron as a “variant of concern” because it has a wide range of mutations. This suggests vaccines and treatments could be less effective.

Although early days, omicron appears to be able to reinfect people more easily than other strains.

Australia has followed other countries and regions — including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and the European Union — and banned travellers from nine southern African countries.

Australians seeking to return home from southern Africa will still be able to do so. But they will enter hotel quarantine and be tested.

Those who have returned from the nine countries – South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi and Mozambique – in the past 14 days will have to isolate.

But Omicron has already been detected in other regions, including the UK, Germany, Israel, Hong Kong and Belgium. So while a travel ban on southern African countries may slow the spread and buy limited time, it’s unlikely to stop it.

As the Australian government and others act to protect their own citizens, this should be accompanied by additional resources to support countries in southern Africa and elsewhere that take prompt action.

When was Omicron detected?
The variant was identified on November 22 in South Africa, from a sample collected from a patient on November 9.

South African virologists took prompt action, conferred with colleagues through the Network of Genomic Surveillance in South Africa, liaised with government, and notified the World Health Organisation on November 24.

This is in keeping with the International Health Regulations that guide how countries should respond.

The behaviour of this new variant is still unclear. Some have claimed the rate of growth of omicron infections, which reflects its transmissibility, may be even higher than those of the delta variant.

This “growth advantage” is yet to be proven but is concerning.

South African officials said the country is being “punished” for detecting the new Omicron variant as more countries rush to enact travel restrictions.

“Excellent science should be applauded and not punished,” the country said in a statement. https://t.co/Yicmn852uv

— Axios (@axios) November 27, 2021

‘Kneejerk’ response vs WHO recommendations
African scientists and politicians have been disappointed in what they see as a “kneejerk” response from countries imposing travel bans. They argue the bans will have significant negative effects for the South African economy, which traditionally welcomes global tourists over the summer year-end period.

They note it is still unclear whether the new variant originated in South Africa, even if it was first identified there. As omicron has already been detected in several other countries, it may already be circulating in regions not included in the travel bans.

Travel bans on countries detecting new variants, and the subsequent economic costs, may also act as a disincentive for countries to reveal variants of concern in future.

The WHO does not generally recommend flight bans or other forms of travel embargoes. Instead, it argues interventions of proven value should be prioritised: vaccination, hand hygiene, physical distancing, well-fitted masks, and good ventilation.

In response to variants of concern, the WHO calls on all countries to enhance surveillance and sequencing, report initial cases or clusters, and undertake investigations to improve understanding of the variant’s behaviour.

WHO warns world leaders against knee-jerk reaction to coronavirus variant from South Africa as U.K. and EU impose travel bans
WHO names new variant omicron, says it’s a variant of concern but there’s a lot we still don’t know.
Wear that face mask, peoplehttps://t.co/XdfnmKdf34

— ciara linnane (@LinnaneCiara) November 26, 2021

Omicron must be taken seriously. Its features are worrying, but there are large gaps in our current knowledge.

While further analyses are undertaken, the variant should be controlled with testing, tracing, isolation, applying known public health measures, and ongoing surveillance.

What can wealthier countries do to help?
Wealthy countries such as Australia should support African nations and others to share early alerts of potentially serious communicable disease threats, and help mitigate these threats.

As the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response noted in May:

[…] public health actors only see downsides from drawing attention to an outbreak that has the potential to spread.

The panel recommended creating incentives to reward early response action. This could include support to:

• establish research and educational partnerships
• strengthen health systems and communicable disease surveillance
• greatly improve vaccine availability, distribution, and equity
• consider financial compensation, through some form of solidarity fund against pandemic risk.

Boosting vaccine coverage is key
Vaccines remain the mainstay of protection against the most severe effects of covid-19.

It is unclear how effective vaccines will be against omicron, but some degree of protection is presumed likely. Pfizer has also indicated it could develop an effective vaccine against a new variant such as Omicron within 100 days or so.

Covid’s persistence is partly attributable to patchy immunisation coverage across many parts of the world, notably those least developed. South Africa itself is better off than most countries on the continent, yet only 24 percent of the adult population are currently fully vaccinated. For the whole of Africa, this drops to only 7.2 percent.

Greater global support is urgently needed to boost these vaccination rates.

African institutions and leaders, supported by global health and vaccine experts, have argued for mRNA vaccine manufacturing facilities on the African continent. These would prioritise regional populations, overcome supply-chain problems, and respond in real time to emerging disease threats.

Yet developing nations face significant barriers to obtaining intellectual property around covid-19 vaccine development and production.

While there is still much to learn about the behaviour and impact of omicron, the global community must demonstrate and commit real support to countries that do the right thing by promptly and transparently sharing information.

Dr Anthony Zwi is professor of global health and development, UNSW. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand, Australia and other nations in the Pacific need to do more to combat rampant vaccine misinformation in Pacific Island countries, which poses a threat to the whole region, a researcher says.

The Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank has released projections for when Pacific countries are likely to have vaccinated most of their populations against covid-19.

Lowy researcher Alexandre Dayant said while some Pacific countries have been world-leading in vaccine coverage, others are coming last, and parts of the region now face a humanitarian crisis.

Smaller countries like the Cook Islands, Palau, Nauru and Niue have already achieved majority vaccination thresholds, but other countries lag far behind.

The forecasting shows that even by the start of 2023 there will likely still be a vast chunk of the population unvaccinated in Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

Samoa is not expected to have vaccinated everyone 12 years and older until June next year, and Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati are not expected to achieve full vaccination for those over 18 years old until part-way through 2022.

In Papua New Guinea, only 1.7 percent of the eligible population have been vaccinated so far, and the Lowy report said it could take until 2026 for just one third to be vaccinated.

Misinformation a barrier
Dayant said one of the main issues in PNG and elsewhere in the Pacific is misinformation.

He said that as well as continuing to support the health system in Pacific countries, New Zealand and the international community should help counter the rampant misinformation about vaccines.

“New Zealand and Australia could help in some ways – dealing with Facebook, seeing what can be done to better control the spread of misinformation on Facebook. I think this is an issue that Facebook has had to deal with for many years.

“Development partners must continue to partner with local government on their targeted counter-misinformation campaigns and develop a media messaging plan to ensure consistency of messaging about vaccines.”

The report said vaccine supply to Pacific nations was also still an issue, but lack of healthcare workers and difficulties getting to those who need to be vaccinated has created bigger logistical challenges, with many remote and diverse areas.

“How well vaccines are distributed and administered will have significant health, social and economic ramifications in the Pacific,” it said.

The New Zealand Council for International Development’s humanitarian network chair Quenelda Clegg told RNZ that in PNG vaccine hesitancy had become vaccine phobia.

“The situation is dire, people are genuinely afraid of this vaccine … and a critical reason why people are afraid of the vaccine is because of misinformation.

“Misinformation is being spread around the country, and it really is preventing people from going and getting help, and going to the health centres and getting that very crucial vaccine.”

Clegg said that before the arrival of covid-19 previous campaigns to reduce vaccine hesitancy had been successful in the Pacific, and she was hopeful the same could be done again.

“We’ve seen it done in Samoa, which went from a very low vaccine rate with the measles, and now today there’s around 100 percent vaccine take-up in the country — so that’s really positive.

“We also know from a recent study done by the World Bank that when people are receiving accurate messages, and are receiving up-to-date information about the safety of vaccines that actually the general intention to get vaccines goes up by around 50 percent.”

Access to the vaccine in geographically isolated areas, and cultural, economic and educational factors were all contributing to many people missing out in PNG, Clegg said.

New Zealand recently sent a health team to PNG, but if more was not done to help the country, Clegg said “we could see the death rate spiral, the country’s health systems collapse, and even the spread of covid-19 beyond PNG.”

The Council for International Development said New Zealand should donate its spare vaccines to PNG, help provide reliable cell phone coverage so health workers and community leaders there could pass on vaccine information, and fund mobile clinics to provide vaccinations in remote areas.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the New Zealand government wants to lift vaccination rates and wants to remove anything that is a barrier to getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

Ardern and Māori-Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis, who is also the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, are in Northland viewing the rollout of vaccinations.

Ardern spoke to media this afternoon until she was continuously interrupted by a conspiracy theorist in the crowd. She then decided to shut down and move the conference.

In other developments today:

Low vax rates not government’s fault
In today’s media conference, Ardern said the low vaccination rates in Northland were not a failure of the government.

She said the government wanted to lift vaccination rates, and wanted to remove anything that was a barrier to getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

“I asked one provider, what are you hearing when you’re out vaccinating … they described it as covid not necessarily feeling close enough to the community yet, that even when there have been cases in Northland it might be seen as a valley over, not at the front door,” she said.

“We will do everything we can to keep it isolated, but we need everyone to be vaccinated.”

She said decisions were made based on public health advice.

Watch the media conference:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Māori-Crown Relations Minister Kelvin Davis speak about vaccination in Northland. Video: RNZ News

In the conference, Ardern said the low vaccination rates in Northland are not a failure of the government.

She said the government wants to lift vaccination rates, and wants to remove anything that is a barrier to getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

“I asked one provider, what are you hearing when you’re out vaccinating … they described it as Covid not necessarily feeling close enough to the community yet, that even when there have been cases in Northland it might be seen as a valley over, not at the front door.”

“We will do everything we can to keep it isolated, but we need everyone to be vaccinated.”

She said decisions were made based on public health advice.

She would rather people were getting vaccinated regardless of alert level, because it was the right thing to do, she said.

Asked about the ruling ordering the ministry of health to reconsider its stance of withholding Māori vaccination data on the basis of privacy, Ardern said it was an issue about what data had been available or able to be shared, and she would allow the health team to work through that.

Raise concerns with professionals
She said people should be able to raise concerns about the vaccine, and if they had questions or concerns they should be able to come forward to talk to health professionals, or someone they trusted, to make the right decision.

She said the number of people who “would be described as … anti-vaccination” was relatively small in New Zealand. She said she absolutely believed the 90 percent double vaccinated rate the government was aiming for could be achieved.

She said young people in particular could be exposed to misinformation online, so there was more work ahead.

Ardern said despite best efforts, cases had come out of Auckland “and so we do need people to be vaccinated”.

Minister Davis said Te Tai Tokerau had not been forgotten.

“I have weekly meetings with all iwi leaders, so there’s a lot of work going into protecting our people, and as we’ve said there’s extra $4m going into the north today. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that our people are protected and people get vaccinated.”

Ardern said the approach from the government had been to ask Māori providers to focus on older kaumātua and kuia, and to take a whānau-based approach.

‘They think they’re smarter than the virus’
Davis was asked about protesters.

“That’s the first protest I’ve seen, there were two people. Obviously, they think they’re smarter than the virus… I don’t think it helps what we’re trying to do here, to protect whānau, to protect whakapapa.

“And to have people think that what’s going on is not reality? I think that they’re just living in a strange world.

“Our focus is on making sure that as many people as possible get vaccinated to protect their whānau, to protect their whakapapa, and that sort of stuff just doesn’t help at all.”

Ardern said misinformation existed everywhere but it was a minority voice.

Northland is one of the lowest-performing regions for vaccinations, with just 64 percent of the region fully vaccinated – second-last, only ahead of Tairāwhiti.

It is also the region that needs the largest number of first doses to reach 90 percent of the eligible population, with more than 17,000 doses required to reach that milestone.

The government’s proposed traffic light system would see restrictions across New Zealand reduced, and lockdowns ended, once every DHB in the country reaches 90 percent double dosed.

Northland also has a high percentage Māori population. Māori have accounted for about 40 to 50 percent of cases in the delta outbreak in recent weeks, and have lower vaccination rates than the rest of the population.

The government this morning announced the first round of funding for initiatives to boost Māori vaccination rates around the country, allocating $23.3 million from the $120m fund announced just over a week ago.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Pacific health providers say a major New Zealand government funding boost is not just a recognition of the critical role they play in reaching Pasifika communities, but of the urgent and sustained response that the delta variant demands

The government has announced a NZ$26 million package of support for the Pacific community which is bearing the brunt of the current covid-19 Delta outbreak.

It also announced a $23 million boost in funding to Whānau Ora to be divided between its three agencies including Pasifika Futures.

The funding comes with immediacy because health officials recognise the fast moving delta variant demands an urgent response.

Especially since the number of Pacific people infected is high, as is the number of Pacific peoples isolating.

Director of Pacific Health, Gerardine Clifford-Lidstone said the funding would firstly secure the services of Pacific provider networks in Auckland and Wellington regions where Pasifika needed the most, and immediate, support.

“The second is to support mobile services and ensure that people can get tested in the home and vaccinated in the home and have other health issues dealt with,” Clifford-Lindstone said.

“And then the third one is communications to ensure that our communities have access to information around vaccines and that needs to be in ethnic specific languages.”

Maintaining momentum
The boost will help maintain momentum in the vaccine rollout and ongoing testing, which Pasifika Futures’ CEO Debbie Sorensen said had been met with a great response by the Pacific community

“And the Whānau Ora money will of course support people being able to stay in their bubbles. Being able to stay safe and keep their families fed and a roof over their families. We’ve had an assurance from Te Puni Kōkiri that we will have that money in our hands tomorrow,” Sorensen said.

She said there was no question that until now Pacific providers generally had been under-funded.

“They were not funded with any flexibility to meet a surge demand. So this will go some way to making sure that as a community we’re able to respond and support our families over the next fortnight but also to be looking into the future about what we do next,” she said.

Tevita Funaki of Pacific health and social support provider The Fono welcomes the funding boost.

He said the health and social strains from this outbreak would have a significantly longer tail than those the community experienced after lockdowns last year.

And with the level of demand for The Fono’s food packages this time around, families needed more sustained support.

Welfare support initiative
“The welfare support, so there’s a welfare support initiative that is supporting especially those that are in isolation. We’ll be able to maintain that because now we will have the ability to re-deploy staff into it. So this will help not only to scale it up, or help to resource it, but also will help to continue it, at least for the short to medium term,” said Funaki.

The innovation manager of Pacific health, disability and social services provider Vaka Tautua, Bernice Mene, said the boost made public health sense given what her organisation had seen working throughout the country.

“And a lot of the feedback is that they are keen for vaccinations but the access, there’s problems with access. And our disabilities community as well. It’s being able to access the vaccination stations, the essential workers or the workers as well,” Mene said.

She said increased support for communication, getting Pacific communities the essential information in a way they could access was also vital in the pandemic response.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand is sending 100,000 vaccine doses and additional financial support to Fiji for nursing staff as the country’s covid-19 death toll passed 250.

Fiji reported 1100 new cases and 13 more deaths today, bringing the total death toll to 254.

Of the deaths, 252 of them have come from the April outbreak of the delta variant of covid-19.

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand paid for 100,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine directly from the Spanish government to meet Fiji’s immediate vaccine needs.

The vaccines were due to arrive today.

“Our thoughts remain with Fiji during this incredibly challenging period,” Mahuta said in a statement.

Earlier this year, the government committed to providing up to 500,000 doses.

Commitment still stands
Mahuta said that commitment still stood.

“AstraZeneca is Fiji’s vaccine of choice and these doses will further support the excellent work Fiji is doing in vaccinating its population.”

Mahuta said the nation’s vaccination drive was coming along.

“Fiji’s vaccination programme is progressing well with 25 percent now fully vaccinated, and first doses provided to 82 percent of the population.

“Our commitment stands and New Zealand will continue to work with Fiji to confirm its remaining vaccine requirements.”

She said the government was also funding for 190 Fiji graduate nurses for a three-month period.

“The recruitment of these nurses not only supports Fiji’s response in the short term, but also contributes to the long-term resilience of the health sector.”

NZ responds to requests
New Zealand has also responded to a range of other requests from Fiji.

“In the last two weeks New Zealand has supported the provision and retrofitting of ambulances and medical equipment, provided funding support to civil society partners and begun delivering 700,000 testing swabs and privacy screens for medical facilities,” Mahuta said.

These initiatives build on previous packages of support New Zealand has provided Fiji, including $40 million of financial assistance, PPE, testing equipment and other relief supplies.

New Zealand has also deployed two rotations of medical personnel to the joint Australia New Zealand Medical Assistance Team.

“We remain in close contact with the government of Fiji and civil society partners to support further requests,” Mahuta said.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

As with much of Indonesia, the country’s easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua are struggling to contain the spread of covid-19, with the delta variant on the loose.

In their latest update, health authorities in Papua province reported 33,826 confirmed cases of the virus to date, as well as 794 known deaths. In West Papua province, there were 18,027 confirmed cases and 278 deaths.

Earlier this week, the Papua provincial health spokesman Silvanus Sumule spoke to media outside a hospital in downtown Jayapura, explaining that hospital capacity had passed 100 percent, while they were short of oxygen tanks for covid patients.

Patients were being treated in corridors or outside the building, the sort of desperate scenes being experienced across Indonesia, which has become the latest epicentre of the pandemic in Asia, with more than 3.2 million cases and 90,000 deaths from covid.

But the health system in Papua is weaker than most other parts of the republic, adding to fears that the virus is on track to cause devastation in indigenous Papuan communities.

A human rights adviser to the Papuan People’s Assembly, Wensi Fatubun, said that with the Delta variant rampaging through communities, Papua’s provincial government had sought a full lockdown for the month of August.

“So the local government announced for the lockdown. But the national government doesn’t want Papua province locked down, and to use different restrictions on community activities.”

With Jakarta having overruled Papua’s local government on the matter, the onus goes on how people respond to the restrictions on gatherings as well as safety measures. But adherence to these basic measures has been mixed in Papua during the pandemic.

“We are really worried with covid-19. If it goes to the remote areas, we don’t know, maybe many, many indigenous Papuans will die, because there’s not enough doctors, nurses, and also health facilities,” Fatubun said.

Across Jayapura, there has been a spate of burials in recent days — another sign of the surge in covid-19 cases, which could be significantly higher than official statistics show.

‘Many Papuans are dying’
To avert the death rate growing more out of control, the national government of President Joko Widodo is focussing on efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible in the coming weeks and months.

So far around 22 percent of the eligible population of 208 million have had at least a first dose of the vaccine, and around 10 percent have had two doses.

The moderator of the Papuan Council of Churches, Reverend Benny Giay said many West Papuans were resisting the vaccine rollout, chiefly because of the role of Indonesian security forces who he said indigenous Papuans deeply mistrusted.

“In the past few months, in several districts, it’s the military and police who accompanied medical teams who go promoting the vaccines. But people turn them away. It’s very difficult to convince the people,” he said.

Given the ongoing violent conflict between Indonesian security forces and West Papuan independence fighters, as well as decades of human rights abuses and racism against Papuans, Reverend Giay said the resistance was understandable.

“The reality here is that they’ve gone through this crisis and violence, and the government is involving military and police to be part of this and we don’t like that.”

Warning against misinformation
Reverend Giay wants his people to get vaccinated, and is urging Papuans to not be dissuaded by misinformation propagated on social media. He suggested outside help was required.

“Many Papuans are dying. We’ve been calling international community for help — maybe the International Red Cross, maybe a humanitarian intervention to convince our people (to get vaccinated).”

This proposal is highly unlikely to be accepted by the Indonesian government which has long restricted outside access to Papua.

Jakarta continues with a business-as-usual approach in the remote eastern region, and is sticking to its plans for Papua to host the Indonesia National Games in October which will bring in many people form other parts of the country.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

New Zealand’s first mass vaccination event is getting under way in Manukau where 16,000 people are due to receive a covid-19 vaccine in the next three days.

The Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau has been set up with 242 booths, and people will file in at their allotted time to take a seat and wait for a vaccinator to come to them.

Just 12 vaccinators will inject roughly one person each a minute.

Just got my 1st vaccination jab (Pfizer/Biotech at the Vodafone Events Centre,Manukau,Auckland pic.twitter.com/5LwzN2E7YH

— Samson Mudapakati (@SMudapakati) July 29, 2021

#COVID19nz mass vaccination event in Manukau is running about an hour behind schedule. I turned up on time for my 10:40 slot only to hear calls for 09:50.#nzpol

— (@bucslife76) July 29, 2021

Am at the mass vaccination event on Manukau. Absolute shambles. Running so late already thay you need to wait minimum 1 hour before your appointment time before you even get registered.

— Emma (@flashemma) July 29, 2021

They can work quickly because other people are doing the logistics and health checks.

After a rocky start, with a slow uptake of bookings initially, the event is now fully booked and organisers say they will not be able to take any walk-ins.

Earlier in the week, Manukau City Councillor Fa’anana Efeso Collins’ had criticised communication by health authorities with the target people after less than a quarter of those initially sent invitations for the event booked a slot.

He called the communications plan to reach Māori, Pacific and vulnerable communities an “absolute failure”.

Surge of late bookings
RNZ had reported that initially about 12,500 people were sent invitations, with people urged to get their whānau to book too.

However, only 3000 of those booked a place. A surge of bookings late in the week turned this situation around.

Auckland District Health Board (DHB) says the event is on an international model, designed to get large groups of people vaccinated efficiently and safely in a short period of time at a single venue.

“People coming for the vaccine will come into the arena, queue up and then be directed to a seat in a booth.

“Once seated, all of the services will be delivered there. This minimises movement and disruption and allows for a higher throughput of people. We will have 12 vaccinators operating each day of the event.

“A vaccinator will come with a trolley and administer the vaccine then people will be required to wait in the booth for observation for 20 minutes.”

There will be a team of medically trained observers assigned to a row who will monitor people and provide assistance if needed.

Once the 20-minute observation period is up people will be taken by shuttle back to the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) campus.

Welcome to the Olympics of vaccination! Starting today at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau City. Our first mass vaccination event will vaccinate more than 15,000 people over the next 3 days. pic.twitter.com/E3donGBTlN

— Ayesha Verrall (@drayeshaverrall) July 29, 2021

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The dream of putting a smile on his mother’s face on his graduation day from university has become one that will never happen for Gabriel Gade, after his mother succumbed to the coronavirus that has killed dozens of people in Fiji.

“My ultimate dream was to make her proud of all her sacrifices, battles in life and the love she gave me over the last 21 years of my life,” he told Asia Pacific Report.

“My mother had to work all the time to pay off the mortgage, and I could tell that she was exhausted most of the time, but I think it was her love for her children that kept her going every day.

His mother, Suliana Bulavakarua, worked as a registered nurse at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH), the largest healthcare facility in the country, where his family believes she contracted the virus while pregnant.

After she tested positive for covid-19 on July 16, she was transported to the Covid-care facility in Suva, leaving behind Gade and his sister at home as their father was working outside of the mainland.

Her children also tested positive for the virus but have recovered. Gade was vaccinated with the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine while his mother was awaiting the Moderna vaccine that was to be administered to pregnant women.

Her daughter was not eligible for the vaccine as she was under the age of 18.

Her condition worsened
Her condition got worse on July 18 and was advised by attending physicians to deliver her baby by caesarean section.

The 44-year-old gave life to a baby girl but the battle with covid-19 was so intense that it soon ended her life.

“It was late at night on Wednesday [July 21] when my phone rang and I did not answer because it was a new number and it was late as well. However, little did I know the hospital was calling me to inform us of our mother’s passing,” says Gade.

“A team from the hospital knocked on our doors on Thursday morning and relayed the news that broke my sister and I into tears. The world suddenly stopped as I lost the one person I owe everything to.

“My mind ran wild but hours later I had to compose myself for my family, especially my sisters who will now grow up without a mother.

The Lau native said the teachings of his mother was something he would hold dear to his heart and would use in the upbringing of his sisters.

“My mother taught me to be generous, loving and to care for people that needed my help.

“I remember a night where I would do my assignments on my study table in our living room and during her days off she would sit on the couch and then she would try and make small talk.

“My mom and I had this relationship where she would always be pressed to do things like for me to graduate. My mom was always supportive of my endeavours.

“I love you so much mom.”

The “fallen hero” is survived by her husband and three children.

Fiji has recorded 715 cases of Covid-19 and 11 deaths – including an unvaccinated health worker – in the last 24 hours to 8am yesterday. https://t.co/CcvTZsXk1n

— RNZ Pacific (@RNZPacific) July 27, 2021

Healthcare workers remember fallen hero
The loss of Bulavakarua was not only for the family but for healthcare workers around the country as they took to social media to express their feelings.

A nurse posted on Facebook that Bulavakarua was the talk of the operation room at the hospital she worked in as they all reminisced her dedication to saving lives in the country.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong, in a televised address, announced the passing of the healthcare worker and said she was one of the many who risked their lives to save people from the deadly delta variant of the virus.

“This current crisis is demonstrating the essential, tireless, innovative and too-often undervalued role of health workers and our frontline colleagues in ensuring strong, resilient health systems for everyone, everywhere,” he said.

“They work long hours, sacrifice time with their families, and endure the stresses that this pandemic places upon them as individuals, professionals, and upon the entire health system.

“Delivering health services in an environment of constraint resources will often mean providing access to life saving care at the expense of comfort.

Meanwhile, healthcare workers are currently looking after 17,937 people living with the deadly virus in the nation where 195 people have died.

Fiji’s covid-19 case count stands at 24,424 since March 2020 with 6191 recoveries.

Josefa Babitu is a final-year student journalist at the University of the South Pacific (USP). He is also the current student editor for Wansolwara, USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication. He is a contributor to Asia Pacific Report.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

France and French Polynesia have agreed to jointly spend US$60 million to build 17 cyclone shelters across the Tuamotu archipelago.

This was announced on Manihi atoll, where the visiting French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the construction site for a shelter for the atoll’s 600 inhabitants.

Macron stopped on Manihi on his way back to Tahiti after a visit to Hiva Oa.

The French Polynesian President, Edouard Fritch, who is travelling with Macron, told local media that he asked Paris for another loan to cope with problems at the social welfare agency CPS and Air Tahiti Nui.

Wallis delegation to meet Macron in Tahiti
A delegation from Wallis and Futuna is expected to fly to French Polynesia today to meet President Macron.

According to the French Prefect in Wallis, Macron originally had Wallis and Futuna on his itinerary, but called off a visit because of the restrictions linked to the covid-19 pandemic.

Prefect Herve Jonathan told local television Macron had wanted to mark this week’s 60th anniversary of the territory’s current status as a French overseas collectivity.

He said the 14-member delegation would include representatives of the three traditional kingdoms as well as the Catholic archbishop.

In March, Wallis and Futuna had a covid-19 community outbreak, which prompted a strict lockdown.

An immediate immunisation drive inoculated about half the population within two weeks but almost half the population rejected the vaccination offer.

Four hundred people caught the virus and seven died.

Detention for Tahiti man insulting Macron
A man in French Polynesia has been taken into custody for questioning for insulting President Macron shortly after he had arrived at Tahiti’s airport.

Tahiti-infos reports the individual joined demonstrators lined up along the route of the presidential convoy to Tahiti’s hospital.

Demonstrations by anti-nuclear groups and the pro-independence opposition are banned for the duration of the president’s four-day visit.

Reports say the groups distanced themselves from the individual, saying he was not one of their members.

He is due in court and expected to be tried for insulting a person in public authority.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A pro-independence movement in West Papua has appealed to several Western countries — including New Zealand — to provide urgent humanitarian help by supplying covid vaccines directly to the Papuans to cope with the “double crisis” in the Indonesian-ruled region.

Benny Wenda, interim president of the Provisional Government of West Papua, said today he had made the appeal by writing to the foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the US.

“I have also written to the President of the European Commission, the WHO [World Health Organisation] and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding the escalating covid-19 situation in our land,” he said in a statement.

“This new crisis is a further existential threat to my people.”

Indonesia had caused a double crisis for the people of West Papua by launching military operations in the middle of the pandemic, Wenda said, as he had warned.

“Just yesterday, villagers from the West Moskona district were attacked by troops after attending a peaceful worship session against ‘Special Autonomy’, fleeing to the forests and the city of Bintuni,” he said.

“Woman and children are afraid to return to their villages in case the military and police arrest or attack them.”

50,000 plus displaced
“More than 50,000 people have been displaced in Nduga, Puncak and Intan Jaya over the past two and a half years. Their homes have been destroyed, their churches burned and their schools occupied by soldiers.

“They are left in internal displacement camps, where the virus will spread rapidly. Already in the cities, patients are being turned away or treated in cars outside the hospital.”

Western countries and the WHO had an urgent moral obligation to give vaccine doses direct the local Papuan government for distribution, Wenda said.

“As the 2018 Asmat health crisis showed, Jakarta cannot be trusted with the health of the West Papuan people,” he said.

“Over nearly 60 years of colonisation we have seen a chronic failure to develop health facilities in West Papua, leaving us dying on top of the natural riches Indonesia is extracting. If Jakarta is allowed to hold the reigns of vaccine development, my people will suffer further.”

Wenda said the developments were part of a “continued genocide against my people”.

“Our forests have been torn down, our mountains decapitated, our way of life destroyed. Indonesia restricts healthcare and enforces a colonial education whilst killing anyone who speaks out for self-determination,” Wenda said.

“Launching military operations in the middle of a pandemic is a policy designed to further wipe out our population. We need urgent international assistance, direct to the local Papuan government, not through the colonial occupier.”

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Fiji has recorded a daily record 1405 new cases of covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8am on Friday.

That compares to 1220 cases and 10 deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

The government also confirmed six more deaths last night, taking the death toll to 80 – 78 of these from the latest outbreak that began in April.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said all six patients were unvaccinated.

“A 58-year old man from Tacirua presented to a medical facility on Wednesday with severe covid symptoms including shortness of breath. His condition worsened at the health centre and he died on the same day.

“An 82-year-old man from Waila presented to a health facility in severe respiratory distress. He was retrieved by a medical team to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital.”

Dr Fong said the man’s condition worsened at the CWM Hospital and he died two days after admission on July 12.

Unwell with symptoms
His family reported that he had been unwell with symptoms that included fever, and cough, Dr Fong said.

“The third covid-19 death to report is a 34-year-old man from Koronivia also presented to a health facility in severe respiratory distress on July 12. His condition worsened at the centre and he died on the same day.

“A 68-year-old man from Valelevu presented to the CWM Hospital with covid symptoms on July 14. His condition worsened in the hospital and he died on the same day he was admitted.

“The fifth death is a 76-year-old woman from Narere who presented to a healthcare facility with severe covid symptoms including shortness of breath. She was retrieved by a medical team to CWM Hospital on July 12 where her condition worsened and she died on the same day.

“A 92-year-old man from Ba was retrieved by a medical team from an isolation facility and transferred to Lautoka Hospital. His condition worsened in hospital and he died four days after being admitted on July 15.”

Dr Fong said three other people, who tested positive to the virus, had died but their deaths have been classified as due to serious pre-existing medical conditions and not caused by covid-19.

More than 11,000 positive people in isolation
Six other deaths are under investigation, he said.

“We also recorded 34 ovid-19 positive patients who died from the serious medical conditions that they had before they contracted the virus; these are not classified as Covid-19 deaths.

“There have been 470 new recoveries reported since the last update, which means that there are now 11,959 active cases. There have been 15,221 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.

“We have recorded a total of 15,291 cases in Fiji since the first case was reported in March 2020, with 3,218 recoveries.”

Dr Fong said a total of 10,356 individuals were screened and 1893 swabbed at stationary screening clinics in the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 312,572 individuals screened and 52,386 swabbed to date.

“Our mobile screening teams screened a total of 4,197 individuals and swabbed 435 in the last 24 hours. This brings our cumulative total to 712,328 individuals screened and 60,855 swabbed by our mobile teams to date.”

Dr Fong said a total of 216,869 samples have been tested since this outbreak started in April 2021, with 259,734 tested since testing began in March 2020.

“3678 tests have been reported for July 14. Testing number data for one lab is pending for July 13-14. Based on available testing numbers, the national 7-day daily test average is 3943 tests per day or 4.5 tests per 1000 population.

“These numbers are expected to increase once all lab testing number data is received. The national 7-day average daily test positivity is 19.2 percent and continues on an upward trend.”

The World Health Organisation’s test positivity threshold is five percent.

As of the 15 July, 384,480 adults in Fiji have received their first dose of the vaccine and 75,448 have received their second doses, Dr Fong said.

“This means that 66 percent of the target population have received at least one dose and 12.9 percent are now fully vaccinated nation-wide.

“Fijians can check the Ministry’s vaccine dashboard to find real-time data on first-dose and second-dose numbers at the national, divisional and sub-divisional levels.

“The 7-day average of new cases per day is 824 cases per day or 932 cases per million population per day. Average daily case numbers are increasing, together with cases of severe disease and deaths.”

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Indonesia is currently experiencing a massive spike in covid-19 infection and deaths, as experts (including myself) have unfortunately been predicting.

The country recorded its largest single-day increase in new cases on July 13, with more than 47,000 infections.

And this is likely to be a huge undercount because too few people are getting tested.

The positivity rate — the percentage of people taking covid tests who return a positive result — currently sits at 26 percent, according to Our World In Data, which indicates Indonesia is almost certainly missing many more cases.

Local research found 44 percent of Jakarta residents had antibodies against the virus. Only 8 percent had actually been confirmed cases.

One reason for the low testing rates is a lack of access to covid tests. Free tests are only available in health-care facilities for people with symptoms or who have been in contact with confirmed cases.

The price private laboratories charge for covid tests can be prohibitive.

What’s gone wrong?
The central government had resisted lockdowns, despite the hospital system hitting crisis point, and has instead prioritised keeping the economy open.

Over the past 16 months, health authorities have struggled to implement contact tracing systems, where people who may have come in contact with the virus are asked to isolate to stop them spreading the virus.

The government has downplayed the pandemic since the beginning, both underestimating the risk in its pandemic planning, and understating the harms in its public communication.

There has been little transparency and poor public communication about the disease.

These shortcomings have put Indonesia in an extremely vulnerable position. The islands of Java and Bali in particular are seeing record-breaking numbers of new cases and deaths.

The faster-spreading delta variant is playing a significant role. Genomic analysis shows delta has displaced other SARS-CoV-2 variants which first circulated in Indonesia.

What has the government done so far?
On July 1, the government announced a semi-lockdown for Java and Bali. Under the restrictions, all employees in non-essential industries must work from home, while 50 percent of employees in essential industries, including finance, can work in an office.

Critical sectors, such as health facilities and food outlets, may operate with total capacity on-site.

Shopping malls must close, and grocery stores and supermarkets can operate until 8pm daily at 50 percent capacity. Food outlets can only offer takeaway or delivery services.

Public transport may operate at 70 percent capacity. Air and long-distance bus and train travellers must produce a vaccine card indicating at least one dose of a covid vaccine.

Face masks are mandatory in public areas.

Authorities have instructed security forces to enforce the protocols.

On July 7, these restrictions were expanded to all other parts of the country.

A large part of the current strategy focuses on covid vaccination. By the end of June the country was administering one million vaccine doses a day, and has maintained a similar rate since then.

But Indonesia currently lacks a robust system of testing, contact tracing and isolating, which should be the main strategy in dealing with a pandemic; the goal of restrictions should be to supplement and strengthen this strategy.

When it will reach the peak?
Based on my calculations, if the restrictions and mask mandates are adhered to, I estimate covid cases in Indonesia could peak in late July or early August, with new case numbers rising to 200,000 a day.

But if restrictions are ineffective, we could see up to 400,000 new daily cases at the peak.

I base these projections on a few factors. I start with the assumption that reported cases are a massive undercount. Then I use an estimate of the spreading rate of covid under certain assumptions, including whether or not restrictions are adhered to.

I also use the number of reported deaths and work backwards to estimate how many cases are likely to have caused that many deaths.

For example, over the last few days Indonesia has recorded around 1000 deaths per day. Deaths lag cases, so let’s look at new daily cases from three weeks ago — they were around 15,000 a day.

But if we assume a case fatality rate of around 2 percent, that means 1000 deaths could translate to 50,000 cases.

Because reported deaths are likely to be an undercount too, that figure could be more like 100,000 cases. So the real number of cases could be three to six times higher than reported cases.

And that was three weeks ago.

I also estimate the number of deaths each day will peak at the end of July or early August, with 1000 to 2300 deaths per day. The number of people in hospital and ICUs could reach 93,000 and 20,000 per day, respectively.

What challenges must be overcome?
The Indonesian government faces a number of challenges in controlling the covid crisis.

Some parts of Indonesia are densely populated, including the covid epicentres Java, Bali and Madura, which makes it easier for the virus to spread. Therefore, the success of Indonesia’s pandemic control will depend on how the government handles the situation on these islands.

Hospitals are increasingly becoming overwhelmed with some running out of oxygen.

Other challenges include regional disparities in covid vaccination rates, the spread of false covid information, vaccine hesitancy, a lack of universal access to clean water, low immunisation coverage among children, and the poor socioeconomic status of most of the population.

This makes it difficult for the government to apply stricter public health measures to contain the virus, as we’ve seen in more socioeconomically advantaged countries.

Australia’s role
As a high GDP country which has been successful in suppressing covid, Australia has an obligation to help protect Indonesia and the region by providing international aid.

Last week, Australia announced a support package, with 2.5 million AstraZeneca vaccines, along with oxygen supplies, rapid testing kits, and ventilators.

Bilateral and regional cooperation is essential during the covid crisis; no country can be safe until all countries are safe.

Dicky Budiman, MD, epidemiologist and PhD candidate on Global Health Security, Griffith University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Villagers and surrounding farmers in Labasa on Fiji’s Vanua Levu island turned up in big numbers for the covid-19 vaccination drive held at Nakorowiri village.

Opposition SODELPA parliamentarian Mosese Bulitavu gave his house for medical officials to use for the AstraZeneca vaccination drive.

“The villagers came in numbers volunteering themselves to get the jab and we are so thankful to the vaccination team for their commitment,” Bulitavu said.

“This vaccination drive happened because we have pledged in the village to break the chain of community transmission by getting vaccinated so we are protected.

“Our loved ones and those around us too will get protected when we are vaccinated.”

Meanwhile, the average cases of covid-19 recorded per day within a period of seven days was 622, reports Health Secretary Dr James Fong.

He said the cases had increased daily with a number of people dying from the virus.

As of July 10, he said Fiji recorded 353,303 adults receiving their first dose of the vaccine and 66,635 had received their second doses.

He said this meant that 60.2 percent of the target population had received at least one dose and 11.4 percent were now fully vaccinated nationwide.

Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Fiji government’s response to the covid-19 pandemic outbreak is an utter failure, but it is not too late to follow New Zealand’s lockdown example, an opposition leader says.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told media her advice was that the lockdown strategy had saved lives.

Fiji is in the grip of a covid-19 outbreak that has infected 791 people and left three more dead in the past day.

Fiji’s deputy opposition leader Professor Biman Prasad told RNZ’s Nine to Noon programme that the government’s strategy had been a complete failure and needed to change.

“Change the strategy now. It’s about life and death now. It’s about fixing the health public health emergency right now, which will also be good in the long term for the economy.”

“The stupid, stubborn, ego-driven policies of this government and the leadership of this government has been utter failure, you know, complete nonsense.”

He said people were fearful and anxious, and the government was putting all its eggs in one basket – vaccination.

‘People are dying’
“Vaccination is important, we’re encouraging people to get vaccinated. But right now we are having a public health emergency – people are dying, our health systems are giving up.”

It was not too late for the country to follow the examples of New Zealand and Australia and lock down, he said.

“If there is a proper planned lockdown with appropriate provision of support such as food rations, etc, for people in the lower income categories I think a lot of people will understand why the government would do that.”

Ardern told New Zealand media this afternoon it was up to the Fiji government to make its own decision, but offered some advice.

“Lockdown, for us, has saved lives and it’s also benefited our economy. But these choices are for governments,” she said.

“Our help and assistance will be there regardless of what strategy they adopt, they’re our neighbours and I think no one wants to see any country suffering under the full effects of an outbreak.”

Ardern said she had spoken to Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama last week and offered wide ranging support, having already provided NZ$40 million in aid, plus protective equipment, specialists, and offered future vaccines.

“Acknowledging that they of course have the right to make their own decisions.”

Fiji should seek more help
Dr Prasad said the government should seek more help from Australia and New Zealand to help with testing.

“People are dying, you know, on arrival to the hospitals because the health system cannot cope … if the cases continue to rise – and more and more people seek medical attention – any health system is gonna give up,” he said.

“I’m afraid that’s what is happening right now in Fiji.”

Dr Prasad said he suspected the government was ignoring advice, and its messaging had been contradictory.

“It’s very, very clear that this government has completely lost the plot.”

“They need to convince the people … they haven’t explained very clearly as to what and why they’re doing what they’re doing right now.”

The people of Fiji were grateful for the assistance from Australia and New Zealand, he said, but the Fiji government should ask for more help in the form of support for those who may be unable to care for their children and put food on the table.

Donations to help Fiji could also be sent to non-government organisations that were already providing help, he said.

Civil society groups in Fiji have urged the government to release data to help them provide an effective response to the crisis.

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

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

While Australians may be focused on the havoc the Delta variant is wreaking on our shores, Delta is in fact driving waves of covid infections all around the world.

With the World Health Organisation (WHO) warning Delta will rapidly become the dominant strain, let’s take a look at this variant in a global context.

The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) emerged quietly in the Indian state of Maharashtra in October 2020. It barely caused a ripple at a time when India was reporting around 40,000 to 80,000 cases a day, most being the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) first found in the United Kingdom.

That changed in April when India experienced a massive wave of infections peaking at close to 400,000 daily cases in mid-May. The Delta variant rapidly emerged as the dominant strain in India.

The WHO designated Delta as a variant of concern on May 11, making it the fourth such variant.

The Delta variant rapidly spread around the world and has been identified in at least 98 countries to date. It’s now the dominant strain in countries as diverse as the UK, Russia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia and Fiji.

And it’s on the rise.

In the United States, Delta made up one in five covid cases in the two weeks up to June 19, compared to just 2.8 percent in the two weeks up to May 22.

Meanwhile, the most recent Public Health England weekly update reported an increase of 35,204 Delta cases since the previous week. More than 90 percent of sequenced cases were the Delta variant.

In just two months, Delta has replaced Alpha as the dominant strain of SARS-CoV-2 in the UK. The increase is primarily in younger age groups, a large proportion of whom are unvaccinated.

2 key mutations
Scientists have identified more than 20 mutations in the Delta variant, but two may be crucial in helping it transmit more effectively than earlier strains. This is why early reports from India called it a “double mutant”.

The first is the L452R mutation, which is also found in the Epsilon variant, designated by the WHO as a variant of interest. This mutation increases the spike protein’s ability to bind to human cells, thereby increasing its infectiousness.

Preliminary studies also suggest this mutation may aid the virus in evading the neutralising antibodies produced by both vaccines and previous infection.

The second is a novel T478K mutation. This mutation is located in the region of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein which interacts with the human ACE2 receptor, which facilitates viral entry into lung cells.

The recently described Delta Plus variant carries the K417N mutation too. This mutation is also found in the Beta variant, against which covid vaccines may be less effective.

One good thing about the Delta variant is the fact researchers can rapidly track it because its genome contains a marker the previously dominant Alpha variant lacks.

This marker — known as the “S gene target” — can be seen in the results of PCR tests used to detect covid-19. So researchers can use positive S-target hits as a proxy to quickly map the spread of Delta, without needing to sequence samples fully.

Why is Delta a worry?
The most feared consequences of any variant of concern relate to infectiousness, severity of disease, and immunity conferred by previous infection and vaccines.

WHO estimates Delta is 55 percent more transmissible than the Alpha variant, which was itself around 50 percent more transmissible than the original Wuhan virus.

That translates to Delta’s effective reproductive rate (the number of people on average a person with the virus will infect, in the absence of controls such as vaccination) being five or higher. This compares to two to three for the original strain.

There has been some speculation the Delta variant reduces the so-called “serial interval”; the period of time between an index case being infected and their household contacts testing positive. However, in a pre-print study (a study which hasn’t yet been peer-reviewed), researchers in Singapore found the serial interval of household transmission was no shorter for Delta than for previous strains.

One study from Scotland, where the Delta variant is predominating, found Delta cases led to 85 percent higher hospital admissions than other strains. Most of these cases, however, were unvaccinated.

The same study found two doses of Pfizer offered 92 percent protection against symptomatic infection for Alpha and 79 percent for Delta. Protection from the AstraZeneca vaccine was substantial but reduced: 73 percent for Alpha versus 60 percent for Delta.

A study by Public Health England found a single dose of either vaccine was only 33 percent effective against symptomatic disease compared to 50 percent against the Alpha variant. So having a second dose is extremely important.

In a pre-print article, Moderna revealed their mRNA vaccine protected against Delta infection, although the antibody response was reduced compared to the original strain. This may affect how long immunity lasts.

A global challenge to controlling the pandemic
The Delta variant is more transmissible, probably causes more severe disease, and current vaccines don’t work as well against it.

WHO warns low-income countries are most vulnerable to Delta as their vaccination rates are so low. New cases in Africa increased by 33 percent over the week to June 29, with covid-19 deaths jumping 42 percent.

There has never been a time when accelerating the vaccine rollout across the world has been as urgent as it is now.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus has warned that in addition to vaccination, public health measures such as strong surveillance, isolation and clinical care remain key. Further, tackling the Delta variant will require continued mask use, physical distancing and keeping indoor areas well ventilated.

Dr Michael Toole is professor of international health at the Burnet Institute. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz