This year was another huge one for Local Democracy Reporting, with our reporters at the forefront of uncovering some of the biggest stories in their regions.

Felix Desmarais in Rotorua exposed hitherto secret plans by the council to revoke the reserve status of seven council reserves, paving the way for new housing to be built on them, including social housing.

It became a major election issue with residents using the ballot to choose candidates opposed to the plan, which was subsequently canned by the new council.

• READ MORE: Other Local Democracy Reporting stories on APR

Steve Forbes covered the chaos created by understaffed and overstretched Emergency Departments, with a deep dive in to the death of a patient who visited Middlemore Hospital.

He was first with a damning independent report that found the ED was “an unsafe environment for both patients and staff”.

It was a year of climate change-induced severe weather, and LDR reporters produced numerous stories on how councils were coping, or not, when it came to putting back together what Mother Nature had torn apart.

Flooding this year continued to represent an existential threat to Westport after the devastating inundation seen last year as well. Brendon McMahon’s stories have reflected the reality on the ground, such as the predicament faced by residents on Snodgrass Road who had been left out of a proposed flood protection scheme.

Nelson clean-up
Nelson reporter Max Frethey has kept readers up to date as that city deals with its own clean-up after devastating downpours in August, which left the city with a repair bill of between $40 million and $60 million, the biggest in its 160-year history.

The weather kept Marlborough’s Maia Hart busy this year as well in a region with communities still cut off or with limited access due to damage caused a year ago.

But it was her story on the resilience of elderly Lochmara Bay resident Monyeen Wedge that really captured readers’ attention. Living alone, she went three days without power and was forced to live off canned food.

The pandemic and the response of health authorities and councils continued to be an area of inquiry for LDR in 2022, and none more so than Moana Ellis in Whanganui.

While high vaccination rates amongst pākehā protected thousands from the worst affects of the Omicron wave, it was a battle for DHBs to reach many Māori, who already had a distrust of health authorities. Moana’s reporting ensured these communities were not forgotten.

In one of LDR’s most read stories of 2022, Alisha Evans uncovered the extent of bureaucratic overreach in Tauranga when through traffic was discouraged on Links Ave with the help of a fine. A glitch led to infringements being issued to drivers living as far away as the South Island who had never even visited the city.

Reporters have documented the good and the bad of people’s interactions with vulnerable ecosystems. North Canterbury’s David Hill shone a light on the wonton destruction of endangered nesting birds in the region’s braided river beds by 4WD enthusiasts.

Community efforts
While Mother Nature was the winner following a series of stories from Taranaki’s Craig Ashworth on community efforts to protect dwindling stocks of kaimoana, which finally resulted in a two-year long rāhui.

The national roll out of flexible median barriers, aka “cheesecutters”, caused consternation in Whakatāne where Diane McCarthy talked to police who said they would struggle to pass drivers on their way to emergencies and farmers driving slow-moving tractors worried about extra levels of road rage from slowed-up motorists.

The dire state of the country’s water infrastructure is magnified in places like Wairarapa, with its small ratepayer base and decades old pipes and sewage treatment. There was no better illustration of this than Emily Ireland’s reporting on Masterton’s use of its Better Off funding where it was pointed out a mum was using a council provided portaloo to potty train her toddler because sewage was backing up in the town system whenever there was heavy rain.

The human impact of decisions around water infrastructure was also brought in to sharp relief in Ashburton reporter Jonathan Leask’s excellent reporting. He took up the cause of a couple and their three children who were shut out of moving in to their dream home due to high nitrate levels limiting the building of any more septic tanks.

One of the biggest changes around council tables this year was the election of Māori ward candidates, with half of all councils now having these. Northland’s Susan Botting has been first out of the blocks reporting on the new dynamics at play, starting with Kaipara mayor Craig Jepson’s ban on karakia to open meetings. The ban was hastily reversed, but led to the largest hikoi in Dargaville for some time.

As with all of LDR’s reporters, choosing just one stand out story from the many fine pieces published throughout the year is almost impossible. None more so than Tairāwhiti reporter Matthew Rosenberg.

But no wrap of 2022 would be complete without mention of his story on bulldozer driver Hamish Pryde. The 65-year-old helped save Wairoa from a dangerously high river by negotiating already badly flooded paddocks and opening up a sand bar so the river could drain out to sea.

As Matthew says, “not all heroes wear capes, some drive bulldozers”.

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

One year on from Aotearoa New Zealand’s longest covid-19 lockdown, an epidemiologist says further lockdowns cannot be ruled out, instead preparing to do them better.

On 17 August 2021, New Zealand went to alert level 4 because the deadly delta variant had arrived.

Aucklanders had no idea that day that they would still be in lockdown until December, and that after 18 months of trying to keep covid-19 out, it would be here to stay.

• READ MORE: Covid-19 update in NZ: 16 further deaths, 4489 new community cases
• Other NZ covid reports

The city was asked to hold the line so the country could get vaccinated, something critics said should have happened much earlier.

Auckland University epidemiologist Professor Rod Jackson was vocal in urging the country to aim high and vaccinate more than 95 percent of eligible people.

Reflecting back, he said New Zealanders responded well, with most areas hitting that mark or higher by the measurements at the time.

Much had been learnt about the virus — and how to respond to it — since then, with the highly contagious but less harmful omicron variant changing everything at the start of this year, he said.

But the danger was not over.

Random severity of variants
“I think there are a lot of people who think, ‘oh look, it’s getting less severe over time so we’re fine,’ but it’s pretty random whether the next variant is going to be less severe or not,” he said.

Either way, it would need to be at least as spreadable as omicron to take over, he said.

The government has said lockdowns are not part of any future covid-19 plans, with the traffic light system taking its place.

But Professor Jackson said that may not “cut the mustard” if the worst happened.

“If we get a new mutation that is more severe, that kills more people, then we’ve got something huge to worry about,” he said.

“If that happens, if people start dropping dead in the street like the original version of covid, we will have little choice but to lock down.”

That was why the country still needed to be prepared for the worst, he said.

Frontline of delta outbreak
As an Auckland GP and co-leader of Te Rōpū Whakakaupapa Urutā, Dr Rawiri McKree-Jansen was at the frontline of the delta outbreak and lockdown and the vaccine rollout.

Some Māori and Pacific health teams had initially struggled to be given the resources they needed, or to be listened to.

The work they were able to do for their communities and the country showed what they were capable of and should be a lasting legacy, Dr McKree-Jansen said.

They were crucial to the vaccine roll out and helped the most vulnerable, especially those isolating.

“The mobilisation was impressive, relentless and co-ordinated,” he said.

“Those features are remarkable and give us a great sense of optimism about the contribution that Māori communities and Māori health professionals can make and I hope that is enduring.”

When it came to new variants, he said while it was important to be vigilant about what may come next, it was also important to focus on what was happening now.

“Omicron’s not done with us yet … I’m keen that we don’t forget the lessons we’ve learnt from the Delta and Omicron outbreaks – and supporting communities is fundamental to that.”

Both Professor Jackson and Dr McKree-Jansen acknowledged the people who had died since pandemic began, many more since the omicron outbreak that reached so many people.

But they said they were also grateful that many were protected by the lockdown and the vaccine rollout.

16 more people die
RNZ News reports that another 16 people with covid-19 have died and there are 4489 new community cases today, according to the Ministry of Health.

There are 496 people in hospital, 13 of them are in a high dependency unit

Yesterday the ministry reported another 21 people with covid-19 had died and there were 533 people in hospital, including 12 in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

Deputy Director-General and Public Health Agency head Dr Andrew Old told media this afternoon that modelling from Covid Modelling Aotearoa showed New Zealand was continuing to track at the lower end of what was expected in terms of a second wave this winter.

“We passed a peak in cases earlier that the modelling suggested and now hospitalisations are also declining suggesting these too have peaked. It’s sitting somewhere between 800 and 850 occupied beds across the country in late July,” he said.

Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand interim national medical director Dr Pete Watson said the recent drop in covid-19 cases was an encouraging trend.

“By each one of us sticking to public health measures we are making a difference,” he said.

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

A family has been under house arrest in Tokelau for almost a year after they refused to get vaccinated against covid-19.

The tunoa — house arrest — was imposed on the family of four by the Taupulega (council) on Nukunonu, one of the three atolls that make up Tokelau.

The New Zealand dependency with a population of about 1500 has had no cases of covid-19 since the global pandemic began in early 2020, according to the World Health Organisation.

• LISTEN TO RNZ PACIFIC WAVES:  Tunoa in Tokelau
• Other Pacific covid-19 reports

However, there are strict protocols in place to prevent the spread of the virus.

The general manager for the office of the council of Nukunonu, Asi Pasilio, explained to RNZ Pacific why the council of 36 heads of extended families who serve the atoll’s community, decided to impose tunoa in August 2021.

Culturally complex
“This is a village rule, this is the decision of the local council which runs the island and the community. We have the laws of Tokelau but we also have the local council which has the authority over their village.”

Pasilio said there were no jails in Tokelau, but when there is a serious offence the council can just ask people to stay at home. Tunoa takes the place of jail.

She said it was a culturally complex issue.

“It will take someone to come here and live our life here, to understand what we mean by house arrest and council authority and communal living.

“Yes, of course, you make your own decisions here, but doing things in a communal manner is very common.”

Family claims they have been left voiceless
In a video posted on social media on July 3, the father, Mahelino Patelesio, said he has felt silenced.

He said he was a member of the council before the tunoa was imposed.

“Before we were placed under house arrest, I explained my stance and I wasn’t allowed to speak at that particular meeting, I actually went there to resign. I wasn’t allowed to do that so I was voiceless.

“From August 3 [2021] three of us adults above 16 years old were placed under house arrest, our daughter was placed under house arrest with us about four months later, towards Christmas,” Patelesio said.

RNZ Pacific has also contacted the family directly but has not received a response.

Asi Pasilio said that while the family is in tunoa they are being supported by the community.

“Their house is right beside the sea so they can go for a swim, they can move around their area but not outside their home boundary.

“They have family members who do their shopping for them.”

Pasilio said the family has been told they have another opportunity to get vaccinated this week following the arrival of more doses.

She said the family had not informed the council of their decision as of Tuesday but if they do choose to get a jab, the tunoa will be lifted.

If they do not, the council will meet again to review the situation.

Matter up to Tokelau, says NZ
New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the former Administrator Ross Ardern had no say in the implementation of tunoa, and that mandatory vaccination was a decision taken by Tokelau’s village leaders.

“Home-isolation has been authorised under the Tokelau customary practice of tunoa, a practice over which Aotearoa New Zealand has no direct authority,” its statement said.

“Aotearoa New Zealand officials have engaged extensively with Tokelau’s leaders to encourage them to strike a balance between the rights of the majority to remain safe from covid-19 in their villages and the rights of the individual.”

“Some 99 percent of Tokelau’s eligible population 12 and over is fully vaccinated (two doses of Pfizer for 12 to 17-year-olds, and three doses for those 18 and over).

“Both doses of paediatric vaccines have been completed, with 99 percent uptake. Boosters for 18+ were successfully administered in Q1 2022 with 99 percent uptake,” MFAT said.

Asi Pasilio said of the three atolls, Fakaofo is fully vaccinated, Atafu has had less than 10 unvaccinated people, and on Nukunonu just the family of four is unvaccinated.

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

It seems not a day goes by without learning someone in our inner circle of family, friends and colleagues has covid. When we ask how unwell our acquaintance is, the responses vary from “they’re really crook” to “you wouldn’t even know they had it”.

This is in line with studies that report moderate to severe illness in a minority of people (usually older with other risk factors) and that up to one in three positive people exhibit no symptoms.

Given the ubiquitous presence of this highly infectious coronavirus in our community and the high rate of asymptomatic illness, those who have not been diagnosed with covid might wonder, “how would I know if I had been infected?”

And, “does it matter if I have?”.

• READ MORE: Has Australia really had 60,000 undiagnosed COVID-19 cases?
• How accurate is your RAT? 3 scenarios show it’s about more than looking for lines
• Here’s why you might need a 4th covid vaccine dose this winter

How covid is diagnosed
Most people know they’ve had covid because they had a fever or upper respiratory tract symptoms and/or were exposed to an infected person AND had a swab test (PCR or rapid antigen) that detected the covid virus (SARS-CoV-2) in the upper airway.

At the beginning of 2022, many people with consistent symptoms or high-risk exposures were not able to access PCRs or RATs to confirm their diagnosis, but instead presumed themselves positive and quarantined.

It is possible to diagnose past infection in those who never tested positive. A blood test can look for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins). When we are infected with SARS-CoV-2, our immune system launches a precision counter strike by producing antibodies against viral targets, specifically the Spike (S) and Nucleocapsid (N) proteins.

Covid vaccination induces a similar immune response against the S protein only. The S antibody “neutralises” the invader by preventing the virus from attaching to human cells.

These antibodies can be detected within one to three weeks after infection and persist for at least six months — potentially much longer. A blood test that shows antibodies to S and N proteins indicates someone has been previously infected. Detection of antibodies to the S protein only indicates vaccination (but not infection).

The problem with antibody tests
Before you rush off to get a covid antibody test, there are a few notes of caution. There is still much to learn about the characteristics of the immune response to covid infection.

Not everyone mounts a detectable antibody response following infection and levels can decline to undetectable levels after several months in some people.

Because there are other circulating seasonal coronaviruses (such as those that cause the common cold), tests may also pick up antibodies to non-SARS-CoV-2 strains, leading to “false positive” results.

Commercial and public hospital pathology labs can perform SARS-CoV-2 antibody testing, but the interpretation of results should be undertaken carefully.

So, antibody testing should really only be done when there’s a good reason to: say, when confirming past infection or effectiveness of vaccination is important for the current care of an individual.

Diagnosing a post-infectious complication or eligibility for a specific treatment, for example. It could also be useful for contact tracing or for assessing the background population rate of infection.

Antibody testing a population
“Seroprevalence studies” test for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in repositories of stored blood that are representative of the general population, such as from a blood bank. This data helps to understand the true extent of covid infection and vaccination status in the community (and informs our assessment of population susceptibility to future infection and reinfection). It’s more useful than daily reported case numbers, which are skewed towards symptomatic individuals and those with access to swab testing.

New research from the World Health Organisation, which is yet to be reviewed by other scientists, reported the results of a meta-analysis of over 800 seroprevalence studies performed around the world since 2020. They estimated that by July 2021, 45.2 percent of the global population had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies due to past infection or vaccination, eight times the estimate (5.5 percent) from a year earlier.

There are plans to conduct fresh seroprevalence studies in Australia in the coming year, which will update local data and help us understand to what extent the omicron wave has washed through the population.

Even after ‘mild’ cases, a new study by this @CurtinUni expert finds “long COVID” symptoms may persist. This includes “brain fog”, fatigue, and problems with concentration and memory. https://t.co/4lckYrks0Y

— The Conversation (@ConversationEDU) March 7, 2022

Does it matter if I have had covid and didn’t know?
For most people, knowing your covid infection status is unlikely to be more than a topic of dinnertime conversation.

While some studies have pointed to a less robust and durable antibody response following mild or asymptomatic infection compared with severe illness, it is not known how this influences protection from reinfection. Certainly, the knowledge we have antibodies from past infection should not deter us from being fully up-to-date with covid vaccination, which remains the best protection against severe illness.

There are reports of people with mild or asymptomatic covid infection developing ‘long covid’ — persistent or relapsing symptoms that last several months after initial infection. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, physical and mental fatigue, exercise intolerance, headaches, and muscle and joint pain.

However, the likelihood of developing this condition appears higher in those who suffer a heavier initial bout of covid illness. This might be linked with higher viral load at that time.

Bottom line
As we enter the third year of the covid pandemic and given that up to one in three infections may be asymptomatic, it is likely many of us have been infected without knowing it.

If you are experiencing lingering fatigue, brain fog or other symptoms that could be long covid, you should talk to your GP. Otherwise, knowing our covid infection status is unlikely to be of much practical benefit. Antibody testing should be reserved for specific medical or public health indications.

Being up-to-date with covid vaccination is still our best defence against severe illness moving forward.

Dr Ashwin Swaminathan is a senior lecturer at the Australian National University in Canberra. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.

Employees of the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) have challenged the legality of the “no jab, no job” policy imposed by NCDC on Port Moresby with a lawsuit.

Lawyer George Kaore, representing the NCDC Workers Association, appeared before Deputy Chief Justice Ambeng Kandakasi to seek certain interim orders at the National Court in Waigani.

City manager Bernard Kipit, Governor Powes Parkop and NCDC were named as defendants in the case.

• READ MORE: Other PNG covid pandemic reports

Kaore said the NCDC employees filed the case for the court to enforce the rights of the workers pursuant to section 41 of the Constitution (Prescribed Acts) and section 48 of the Constitution (Freedom of Employment).

He said the covid-19 vaccination should not be mandatory in the workplace.

However, Justice Kandakasi advised Kaore to provide to the court a list of NCDC workers who were vaccinated and those who were not vaccinated.

Justice Kandakasi also told Kaore to provide a list of the non-vaccinated NCDC staff who had taken a covid-19 test.

‘Basic information’ not provided
Justice Kandakasi said such basic information was not provided by the plaintiffs to the court.

After considering submissions from the parties, he ordered the National Executive Council (NEC), Health Minister Jelta Wong, and the National Pandemic Response Controller David Manning to be added as defendants to the case.

The court ordered the government through NEC, Wong and Manning to provide a copy of the National Covid-19 Pandemic Response plan, the strategic implementation plan and all relevant details about the covid-19 awareness, contact tracing and isolation.

Justice Kandakasi said the case by the NCDC Workers Association would be heard together with the case filed by the Human Rights Advocacy International.

The Human Rights Advocacy International filed the case in the National Court claiming that the “no jab, no job” policy implemented by some government agencies, private companies and public statutory institutions was unconstitutional.

The case has been adjourned to November 16.

Charles Moi is a reporter for The National newspaper. Republished with permission.

Urban clinics in Papua New Guinea’s second city Lae have closed for an indefinite period following attacks on health workers.

Anti-vaxxers have been verbally or physically attacking health workers over false claims of state mandatory vaccinations against the covid-19 pandemic.

Health workers and support staff manning facilities around the city have reported incidents of stone throwing, swearing and threats to their personal safety, with some people viewing them as “agents of a forced covid-19 vaccine”.

• READ MORE: Ambulance attacks depored in PNG
• PNG police block illegal anti-vaxxer rally in Port Moresby amid fake info
• More PNG pandemic reports

The National reported at the weekend on an attack on a three-member ambulance crew by people last Thursday wrongly believing St John Ambulance staff were administering vaccines.

A surge in covid misinformation and disinformation on social media is hampering health authorities in their work.

While the Morobe Provincial Health Authority is yet to advise residents about the crisis, health workers say nobody is manning the clinics as they have all been asked to stay at home until further notice.

A visit to the Malahang and Butibam clinics revealed that similar notices were posted saying: “Haus sik bai pas inap ol bosman/bosmeri i tok orait lo open gen”. (Hospital will close until approval is received from bosses.)

The next option for residents is to go to the overcrowded ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital or visit private clinics and pharmacies.

Barely 1 percent vaccinated
Asia Pacific Report reports only 1.2 percent of the nine million Papua New Guineans are vaccinated against covid-19.

According to the John Hopkins University covid dashboard, 29,715 cases of covid and 370 deaths have been reported on Papua New Guinea but health officials fear the real toll is far higher because of limited testing and records.

John Hopkins has reported that the total death toll from covid-19 has now passed five million globally.

Indonesia’s popular tourism islands of Bali opened for tourism last week, while Thailand announced that from November 1 vaccinated travellers from 19 countries will be allowed to visit the kingdom including its tourism island of Phuket.

Both those countries’ tourism industry, which is a major revenue earner, has been devastated by more than 18 months of inactivity that have impacted on the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people.

India and Vietnam also announced plans to open the country to vaccinated foreign tourists in November, and Australia will be opening its borders for foreign travel from mid-November for the first time since March 2020.

• READ MORE: New Zealand makes covid vaccines mandatory for doctors, teachers
• Other NZ covid lockdown reports

Countries in the Asia-Pacific region — except for China — are now beginning to grapple with balancing the damage to their economies from covid-19 pandemic by beginning to treat the virus as another flu.

The media may have to play a less adversarial role if this gamble is going to succeed.

October 11 was “Freedom Day” for Australia’s most populous city Sydney when it came out of almost four months of a tough lockdown.

Ironically this is happening while the daily covid-19 infection rates are higher than the figure that triggered the lockdowns in June.

‘It’s not going away’
Yet, New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet told Sky News on October 11: “we’ve got to live alongside the virus, it’s not going away, the best thing that we can do is protect our people (by better health services)”.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, addressing the nation on October 9, said: “Singapore cannot stay locked down and closed off indefinitely. It would not work, and it would be very costly”.

He added, “each time we tighten up, businesses are further disrupted, workers lose jobs, children are deprived of a proper childhood and school life”.

Singapore is coming out of lockdown when it is facing the highest rates of daily infections since the covid-19 outbreak.

Both Singapore and Australia adopted a “zero-covid” policy when the first wave of the pandemic hit, quickly closing the borders, and going into lockdown.

Both were exceptionally successful in controlling the virus and lifting the lockdowns late last year with almost zero covid-19 cases. But, when the more contagious delta virus hit both countries, fear came back forcing them back into lockdowns.

However, PM Lee told Singaporeans that lockdowns had “caused psychological and emotional strain, and mental fatigue for Singaporeans and for everyone else. Therefore, we concluded a few months ago that a “Zero covid” strategy was no longer feasible”.

‘Living with covid-19’
Thus, Singapore has changed its policy to “Living with covid-19”.

In a Facebook posting on October 10, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “The phenomenal response from Australians to go and get vaccinated as we’ve seen those vaccination rates rise right across the country, means it’s now time that Australians are able to reclaim their lives. We’re beating covid, and we’re taking our lives back.”

On October 8, Australia’s Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said that though infection rates might still be a bit high, yet less than 1 percent of those infected were in intensive care units (ICUs).

Why didn’t political leaders take this attitude right from the beginning and continue with it? After all the fatality rate of covid-19 has not been that much higher than the seasonal flu in most countries.

True, it was perhaps more contagious according to medical opinion, but fatality rates were not that large in percentage figures.

According to the Worldometer of health statistics, there have been 237.5 million covid-19 infections up to October this year and 214.6 million have recovered fully (90.4 percent) while 4.8 million have died (just over 2 percent).

According to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, there have been between 39-56 million flu cases, about 700,000 flu hospitalisations recorded in the US during the 2019-2020 flu season up to April 2020.

They also estimate between 24,000 to 62,000 flu deaths during the season. But did the media give these figures on a daily or even a weekly basis?

New global influenza strategy
In March 2019, WHO launched a new global influenza strategy pointing out that each year there is an estimated 1 billion flu cases of which 3-5 million are severe cases, resulting in 290,000 to 650,000 influenza-related respiratory deaths.

This has been happening for many years, but, yet the global media did not create the panic scenario that accompanied covid-19.

Unfortunately, the media’s adversarial reporting culture has helped to create a fear psychosis from the very beginning of the outbreak in early 2020, which may have contributed to millions of deaths by creating anxiety among those diagnosed with covid-19.

During the peak of the delta pandemic in India, many patients died from heart attacks triggered by anxiety. Would they have died if covid-19 were treated as another flu?

In the US out of the 44 million infected with covid-19 only 1.6 percent died. In Brazil from 21.5 million infected, 2.8 percent of them died, while in India out of 34 million infected only 1.3 percent died.

But what did we see in media reports? Piles of dead bodies being burnt in India, from Brazil bodies buried in mass graves by health workers wrapped in safety gear and in the US, people being rushed into ICUs.

They are just a small fraction of those infected.

Bleak picture of sensationalism
I was the co-editor of a book just released by a British publisher that looked at how the media across the world reported the covid-19 outbreak during 2020. It paints a bleak picture of sensationalism and adversarial reporting blended with racism and politicisation.

It all started with the outbreak in Wuhan in January 2020 when the global media transmitted unverified video clips of people dropping dead in the streets and dead bodies lying in pavements. Along with the focus on “unhygienic” wet markets in China this helped to project an image of China as a threat to the world.

It contributed to the fear psychosis that was built up by the media tinged with racism and politicisation.

If we are to live with covid and other flu viruses, greater investments need to be made in public health.

In Australia, health experts are talking about boosting hospital bed and ICU capacities to deal with the new policy of living with covid, and they have also warned of a shortage of health professionals, especially to staff ICUs.

What about if the media focus on these as national security priorities? Rather than giving daily death rates and sensational stories of people dying from covid — do we give daily death rates from heart attacks or suicide?

We should start discussing more about how to create sustainable safe communities as we recover from the pandemic, and that includes better investments in public health.

We need a journalism culture that is less adversarial and more tuned into promoting cooperation and community harmony.

Kalinga Seneviratne is co-editor of COVID-19, Racism and Politicization: Media in the Midst of a Pandemic published in August 2021 by Cambridge Scholars Publishers. IDN is the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate. This article is republished in partnership with IDN.

The New Zealand government has set out a three-stage roadmap that gradually eases covid-19 restrictions in Auckland.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the government would take a careful, methodical approach to the changes.

From midnight tomorrow, Tāmaki Makaurau will remain in alert level 3 but Aucklanders will be able to connect with people outside their bubble outdoors, with no more than two households and 10 people mingling at a time.

• READ MORE: Other RNZ covid lockdown reports

Early childhood education will return as normal and people can move around Auckland for recreation, like visiting the beach or hunting.

At the second stage, retail shops can open with face masks and social distancing, public facilities such as pools and zoos will open and the number of people who can meet outdoors will increase to 25.

Hospitality venues will open at the third stage, seating people at a distance with a maximum capacity of 50 people.

Public health advice at this stage also indicates schools will be able to return after the school holidays on the October 18 – with a final decision to be made closer to the time, the prime minister said.

Outdoors makes the difference
Ardern said that being outdoors and the ventilation that provides makes all the difference.

“Don’t for a moment be tempted to suddenly, if the weather turns bad, switch to being in your home,” she said.

New Zealand reported 29 new community cases of covid-19 today before the Cabinet decision on alert levels.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said there were also two new cases at the border.

It said 28 of the new cases were in Auckland and one was in Waikato.

Of the new cases, 21 were epidemiologically linked and eight were being investigated.

That brings the total number of community cases in the current outbreak to 1357. There have been 4025 cases since the pandemic began.

Lot of work done on step-wise process
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said a lot of work had been done to evaluate the step-wise process.

“I think this is the important feature of this next four to eight weeks, being methodical and stepwise and doing it safely. As our vaccination rate goes up, that helps and it’s already helping.”

He said public health officials also looked carefully at the things in each step that would not increase the risk much at all, and it’s on the basis of reviewing the status each week that the decision has been made.

“Cabinet will review each step weekly to ensure it’s safe to move before confirming the next step. The wage subsidy will continue to be available,” Ardern said.

“In total, this phasing amounts to a careful and methodical transition plan for Auckland.

“At the end of these steps, we will then move to a national framework that reflects a more highly vaccinated population, allowing us the ability to deal with riskier settings such as large-scale events with the use of vaccine certificates.”

Still covid ‘zero-tolerance’
Covid-19 Response and Education Minister Chris Hipkins told RNZ Checkpoint preparations had been underway for some time for the three-step transition.

“If we look internationally, it’s countries that have stepped down well have stepped down slowly and consistently. Those countries that have moved faster tend to have ended up cycling backwards and forwards with their restrictions so that is something that we would like to try and avoid here if we can.”

He said the government was continuing to have a “zero tolerance approach towards covid-19. But the way we approach this will be a little different.”

Hipkins did not say if vaccination for school teachers would be mandatory, but signalled tougher rules for unvaccinated teachers would be introduced.

“It may be that those who are not vaccinated need to be tested more frequently, for example, there might be requirements for unvaccinated people working in schools and working with young people who can’t be vaccinated to be frequently tested.

“We’ll work our way through those we will talk to the sector about the practical realities of all of those other things.”

Opposition slams roadmap
National leader Judith Collins said the government’s “incompetence” had meant New Zealand was stuck in a “lockdown limbo” with no answers and no way out.

She said the situation was clearly out of control and worsening every day.

ACT leader David Seymour said the government should give the public a “proper plan” and let Aucklanders know when the finish line was in sight.

The Green Party said the government’s roadmap for Auckland risked the safety of vulnerable communities and children.

Co-leader Marama Davidson said now ws not the time to change the approach.

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

Parts of Waikato — including Raglan, Huntly, Ngāruāwahia and Hamilton City — will join Auckland in alert level 3 from midnight tonight, the New Zealand Prime Minister has confirmed.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have given today’s briefing after three recently reported community covid-19 cases outside of Auckland.

This morning the Ministry of Health reported two new community cases of covid-19 in Waikato – one person aged in their 40s in Raglan and one in their 50s in Hamilton.

• READ MORE: Other NZ covid lockdown reports

There were 33 new community cases reported today, including one of the new Waikato cases.

Announcing that parts of the district would go into level 3 at 11.59pm tonight, Ardern said there would be spot checks around Hamilton boundary areas, but they would not be as rigorous as the boundary in Auckland as it was too difficult to have a hard boundary around Hamilton.

She said Cabinet intended for level 3 restrictions to apply for the next five days, which would give authorities the opportunity to contact trace and widely test in the coming days. The restrictions would then be assessed.

Ardern said the vast majority of the cases had not been vaccinated.

‘Vaccination makes a difference’
“Vaccination makes a difference, it keeps people safe,” she said.

“If we had a vaccination rate of 90 percent or above in either Hamilton or Raglan it is highly unlikely we would be here today announcing level 3 restrictions.

“Instead we would be able to rely on other tools like contact tracing and much lower level public health measures but while we are vaccinating we have fewer choices in how to react to cases.”

She said none of the three community cases outside of Auckland had been vaccinated.

“We’ve been advised that the household members of the truck driver are vaccinated and have not yet tested positive,” she said.

Watch the briefing live

Video: RNZ News

Ardern said the government was doing everything possible to keep cases confined to Auckland.

Auckland’s alert level will be reviewed tomorrow.

Waikato treatment
Ardern said the level 3 in Waikato would be treated distinctly from what was happening in Auckland.

Last night, the ministry reported an Auckland truck driver who had travelled to Palmerston North had tested positive for covid-19.

Ardern said today that with the Palmerston North case the source was known and Auckland based, but this was not the case for the Waikato cases.

Dr Bloomfield said he was not worried about community spread in Palmerston North, but people with symptoms should still get tested.

Yesterday in its daily update the Ministry of Health reported 27 new community cases of covid-19 in Auckland. One of these cases was a patient who went to Middlemore Hospital seeking treatment for issues unrelated to covid-19, but who then tested positive.

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

In imperial and colonial contexts, dominant groups express their power in three ways: colonisation of the bodies of the minority groups (slavery and labour exploitation); colonisation of territories and natural resources; and colonisation of the mind (colonised peoples internalising the values of the dominant power).(1)

All three ways of exerting power were forced upon the population of Mā’ohi Nui from the beginning.

A French protectorate was enforced over the Mā’ohi Nui people by military occupation, imposed over the Mā’ohi Nui territories via a 30-year French nuclear testing programme, and imposed on the minds of local indigenous people through a political system called Autonomie Interne (Internal Autonomy) — a system that has shown its limitations and now seems to be on a ventilator.

• READ MORE: The covid-19 pandemic in ‘French’ Polynesia
• The New Caledonia covid crisis
• Tahiti’s ‘wedding of the year’ turns into political row over covid hypocrisy

The covid-19 pandemic that hit the world nearly 2 years ago has become a Trojan horse for the French state to physically colonise and occupy Mā’ohi Nui further.

The arrival of the pandemic in Mā’ohi Nui was attributed to a Tahitian lawmaker coming back from Paris in March 2020, and our first deceased were an elderly Tahitian couple in September 2020.

Borders were not completely closed. Exchanges of people, goods, and services continued between Mā’ohi Nui islands and between the island groups and people travelling from international destinations.

Travel continued even if it was somewhat reduced in a piecemeal programme led by local Mā’ohi Nui government authorities that included partial confinement.

Pape’ete marketplace
The decision to keep the popular marketplace in Pape’ete open during week days but closed on Sunday is one example of the local government’s mismanagement of the crisis — the virus does not take time off.

Allowing people to attend religious services is to think, naively, that worshippers will religiously follow the distancing instructions.

Going back to my last article for Asia Pacific Report about the impact of covid 19 on the Mā’ohi Nui population, on 13 August 2021, the number of death and patients in ICU (Intensive Care unit) were respectively 176 and 26.

The month of August was the deadliest for the populations of Mā’ohi Nui with 513 deaths and 59 patients in ICU with the hospital struggling to cope with the sheer volume of patients.

This tells us that 337 Mā’ohi people died in a single month.

Those figures are unacceptable for a population that is geographically isolated and should have been better protected and impervious to any types of pandemic. Sadly, the bar of 600 deaths was passed recently.

PPE provision
What did the French state and the local government do to halt the surge of the pandemic?

Vaccinations and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) were provided to the population, but heavy equipment such as ventilators were sadly lacking at the main hospital.

However, in the middle of the pandemic in July, President Emmanuel Macron came for a presidential visit to Mā’ohi Nui with about 250 of his own staff.

Macron wanted to show support for the appalling local health situation, but it is hard not to believe that the looming presidential election in 2022 did not influence his visit.

While demonstrations and gatherings were prohibited as part of the means to both curb the virus spread and silence the gathering of Mā’ohi Nui independence demonstrators, the Tahiti-Fa’aa airport tarmac was busy welcoming Macron — with the local President Édouard Fritch leading the welcoming committee.

Covid-19 social distancing protocols were ignored during Macron’s 5-day visit in Tahiti and on the other islands where he mingled with the crowd.

Before the arrival of President Macron, the pro-French local government found enough time to call a parliamentary session to push through the change of the local name of the main hospital Ta’aone to that of former French president Jacques Chirac.

Self-congratulatory speech
Although the privilege to change names of buildings is one held by the local government, it begs the question whether this decision to rename the building was done for political expedience to please Macron who visited the hospital.

He gave a self-congratulatory speech about France coming to the rescue of Mā’ohi Nui while encouraging the populations to get vaccinated.

The work of the local Mā’ohi Nui government and Macron illustrate how an implicit colonisation process works, and is a remarkable illustration of a history of subjection of the Mā’ohi Nui people to external forces.

Similarly, the behaviour of both the local Mā’ohi Nui government and Macron here cast illumination upon the dispossession of Mā’ohi Nui people’s cultural agency and authority.

In many instances, the indigenous names are disregarded and replaced by the names of colonisers with the support of the local government.

The complacency and complicity of members of the local government with the French state regarding covid-19 restrictions has resulted in a kind of 2-tier justice system where those close to the colonial power seemed to enjoy prolonged freedom from judiciary prosecutions — or hope to be exempt from them.

By contrast, the rest of the Mā’ohi population are fined on the spot for not adhering to legal directives.

Stark disparity
An invasion under the guise of humanitarian assistance for the Mā’ohi Nui population.

There was a stark disparity that was noticed by the media and the population in Tahiti between the way emergency measures were applied in Mā’ohi Nui and Aotearoa.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acted swiftly and decisively to impose a complete lockdown after the discovery of just one case of the delta variant.

Similarly, people in Mā’ohi Nui noticed the disparity between the way the covid-19 emergency was dealt with in Mā’ohi Nui and New Caledonia.

Sharing the same French colonial system of governance as Ma’ohi Nui, French authorities in New Caledonia declared a state of emergency on September 7.

The New Caledonian government has been very decisive in handling the delta variant that has already killed 33 people.

Could it be that those drastic and stricter decisions imposed by the French High Commissioner (in charge of security) were to protect the 24 percent of the New Caledonian population who are French?

The hecatomb
New Caledonia has seen the Polynesian scenario in Ma’ohi Nui and they call it a hecatomb — a public sacrifice.

It was only when the number of deaths reached around 500 that a state of emergency was declared in Mā’ohi Nui — with a catastrophic death rate averaging 11 deaths a day especially during the month of August.

Only on the promise made by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs did we start seeing the arrival of a contingent of French health experts (nurses, doctors and firemen) numbering nearly 300 two weeks ago.

Did we need to get to that degree of desperation before we activated the emergency measures with that many French nationals arriving in Mā’ohi Nui? It might be good to remind ourselves that only 8 percent of the population are French and over 85 percent of the dead are unvaccinated Mā’ohi people.

It is easy to see how the handling of the security and health of the Mā’ohi nation was unjust and scandalous from the very start while New Caledonia pulled out all the stops to cater for the safety of its population — two very different justice systems.

Another important consequence of the hospitals being overwhelmed by the number of cases and deaths was the ban by the health authorities preventing families from holding a vigil besides their own dead.

This ban pressured families into not declaring that they might have other family members contaminated with covid-19 to hospital authorities.

Being able to say their last goodbyes was more important for the bereaved families.

While the official figures of those who died at hospital are recorded, the number of those who died at home remains unknown.

It is a sad state of affairs to witness such a disparity in the treatment of the indigenous peoples by the colonial authorities which call for justice and can only fuel support for independence among the Mā’ohi Nui people.

Ena Manuireva, born in Mangareva (Gambier islands) in Mā’ohi Nui (French Polynesia), is a language revitalisation researcher at Auckland University of Technology and is currently completing his doctorate on the Mangarevan language. He is also a campaigner for nuclear reparations justice from France over the 193 tests staged in Polynesia over three decades.

Note:
1. Phillipson, R. (2012). Imperialism and colonialism. In B. Spolsky (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy (pp. 204-225).

Fiji Islands Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama is the current Chair of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum. Addressing the UN General Assembly virtually on September 25, he called on the global community to embrace Fiji’s vision of a “better, greener, bluer and safer future for humanity”.

The United Nations report to the UN General Assembly this year is titled “Our multilateral challenges: UN 2:0”, a Common Agenda the blueprint for a future that is better, greener, and safer—and I would humbly add, “bluer”.

We want that future for Fiji. We want islands inhabited by citizens who stand with nature and not against it. We want sustainable economic growth that is powered by clean energy and protected from the impacts of climate change.

We want robust and resilient health systems, and we want good jobs and income supported by a green and blue economy. To succeed, our vision must become the vision of humanity, because our fate is the world’s fate.

• READ MORE: Fiji PM challenges world leaders to commit to climate action at COP26
• Facebook misinfo is hurting PNG, Marape tells UN
• Samoa’s PM highlights climate threat to oceans at UN
• Micronesian countries urge Taiwan involvement at UN
• WATCH: Bainimarama speaks at the UN General Assembly

The world’s present course leads nowhere near the future we want for ourselves. A deadly pathogen is burning through humanity like a bushfire—and inequity is fanning the flames. This year alone, climate-driven floods, heatwaves, fires, and cyclones have killed hundreds and inflicted unsustainable economic damage.

We humans are the cause, but we are refusing to become the solution.

The UN Secretary General’s recommendations in “Our Common Agenda” are spot on. We must meet this moment with a new UN—a new energy, new resources, and new bonds of trust with the people this institution serves.

A new UN that empowers those on the margins of society—particularly women and girls—and brings them into the centre of global decision-making.

Two pandemics
In the past year, it has become clearer that we face two pandemics—one that is ending for the wealthy nations and one that is worsening across much of the developing world. That widening chasm can be measured in lives lost and in years of economic progress undone.

Across the Global South, what the world once branded as “sustainable development” is unravelling before our eyes. Hundreds of millions of jobs have been lost, hundreds of millions of people cannot access adequate food, and an entire generation has had their education disrupted.

The wounds of this crisis will cripple us for years if left untreated.

Leaders who cannot summon the courage to unveil these commitments and policy packages at COP26 should not bother booking a flight to Glasgow. Instead, they—and the selfish interests they stand for—should face consequences that match the severity of what they are unleashing on our planet.

— Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama

Fiji’s experience shows how an equitable recovery can begin. It starts by getting jabs in arms, fast. After one full year with zero local covid cases, the insidious delta variant crept into our country and sparked a deadly second outbreak.

After a slow start while we scrambled to acquire enough vaccines, we are winning the battle.

Over 98 percent of adults across our 110 populated islands have [had] one jab of the vaccine, and more than 67 percent are fully vaccinated. We thank India, Australia, New Zealand and the United States for helping us secure the doses we needed.

Our mission now is to recover the more than 100,000 jobs lost to the pandemic and to recoup a 50 percent loss in government revenues. Soon, Fiji will reopen to tourism and to regional and international business.

Victory over the virus
We will look to accelerate investment trends, like increased digitisation, that will modernise our economy and help it recover.

But Fiji’s victory over the virus will be short-lived unless the global community can accelerate vaccinations everywhere. It is appalling that wealthier countries are already considering third doses or boosters for their citizens while millions of people—including frontline healthcare workers—in the developing world cannot access a single dose.

Globally, thousands of lives are still being lost every day to the virus. The majority represent our collective failure to make vaccines available to developing countries.

Vaccine nationalism must end. The G7, G20, and multilateral financial institutions have failed to stop it. Only the UN can fill this void of leadership.

I join other leaders in calling on the UN to convene an urgent special meeting of leaders to agree to a time bound, costed, and detailed plan for the full vaccination of developing countries.

Vaccine inequity is a symptom of a much larger injustice, one that is inherent to the international economic system. This injustice is the unequal distribution of finance, or access to finance, that can fuel a recovery.

While wealthy nations have propped up their economies by printing and investing trillions at near zero interest rates, developing nations—particularly small states—have had to borrow at punitive rates to simply keep our people alive, fed, and healthy.

Cash transfer programme
Through the pandemic, my government rolled out the largest cash transfer programme in our history—providing hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits to nearly one-third of Fiji’s adult population.

We even expanded some of our social protection programmes, including pensions for the elderly, and financial support for the differently abled and other vulnerable communities.

The alternative was mass destitution, which we would not accept. But to pay for it, we had to take on debt, precipitated by massive reduction in government revenue.

We need a more innovative framework for development finance that recognises the unique needs of SIDS (Small Island Developing States). And we must adopt a more sophisticated framework of assessing debt sustainability that incorporates the urgency of building resilience and breaks free of the norms of the 20th century.

This pandemic has been a painful lesson about where unilateral action can lead and where our multilateral institutions are unwilling to go. We must find new frontiers of co-operation if we stand any chance of averting future pandemics—or staving off the worst of climate change.

If small states are to build back greener, bluer, and better, we will need an equal voice about and vote on decisions that determine our future. Small states need our interests heard, understood, and acted upon.

Despite all the talk we hear of saving the planet, the world’s collective commitments are paltry. Akin to spitting into the strengthening winds of climate-fuelled super-storms.

Frequent devastation
The climate is on track for 2.7 degrees Celsius of global warming, which would ensure the loss of entire low-lying nations in the Pacific and huge chunks of global coastlines. It guarantees frequent devastation from floods, cyclones, coastal inundations, and wildfires.

It spells climate-driven conflict, mass migration, and the collapse of food systems and ecosystems. It is appalling. It is unimaginable. But it is where we are headed.

Since March 2020, Fiji has experienced three cyclones—two of which approached category five intensity. Fijians are strong people. We endured much, and we will endure more still. But I am tired of applauding my people’s resilience. True resilience is not just defined by a nation’s grit but by our access to financial resources.

Today, SIDS are able to access less than 2 per cent of the available climate finance. To build a truly resilient Fiji, we need access to fast-deploying targeted grants, long-term concessionary financing and financial tools and instruments established through public-private collaboration and partnership.

The Fijian economy depends on a healthy ocean and so we are taking bold strides to reverse its current decline. We have committed to 100 percent sustainable management of EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) and 30 per cent declared as marine protected areas by 2030.

We are expanding investments in sustainable aquaculture, seaweed farming, and high-value processed fish.

But we cannot do this alone. We look to the global system to stop illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. We look to UN member states to agree to a new treaty to preserve marine in waters beyond national jurisdictions.

Pacific mission in Glasgow
In one month, we meet in Scotland for a hugely consequential COP. The Pacific’s mission in Glasgow is clear: we must keep the 1.5 target alive.

This demands drastic emissions cuts by 2030 that put large nations on a path towards net-zero emissions before 2050.

Leaders who cannot summon the courage to unveil these commitments and policy packages at COP26 should not bother booking a flight to Glasgow. Instead, they—and the selfish interests they stand for—should face consequences that match the severity of what they are unleashing on our planet.

We do not tolerate war between states. So, how can we tolerate war waged against the planet, on the life it sustains, and on future generations? That is the firm red line Pacific nations will draw in Glasgow. We are demanding net-zero emissions and accepting zero excuses.

At COP26, the global north must finally deliver on US$100 billion a year in climate finance and agree to a pathway to increase financing commitments to at least $750 billion a year from 2025 forward.

If we can spend trillions on missiles, drones, and submarines, we can fund climate action. It is criminal that vulnerable Pacific Small Island Developing States can access a mere 0.05 percent of the climate finance currently available to protect ourselves from an existential crisis we did not cause.

These are the challenges we face, and we must find the courage to face them squarely. The consequences of not doing so are simply unthinkable.

Published in partnership with IDN-InDepthNews.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has appealed to the 1.7 million people in the city to “roll up your sleeves” and get vaccinated immediately to help New Zealand cope better with the covid-19 pandemic.

Writing in The New Zealand Herald today to back the newspaper’s 90% Project for maximum vaccination, Goff said the the city should be aiming for a “summer of freedom for Tāmaki Makaurau”.

“It’s a much better scenario than staying at home in our bubbles, locked down at level 4, and at risk of a disease that may put you or your family in hospital,” he said.

• READ MORE: In spite of relentless media negativity, NZ’s covid story is largely successful
• Covid-19 update: 15 new community cases in NZ, all in Auckland, ministry says
• Other NZ covid lockdown reports

“The first option is one we all crave. To help achieve it, we need to get as many Aucklanders vaccinated as possible, as soon as possible.

“Ninety percent of the eligible population is a good target, which is why I support The New Zealand Herald’s 90% Project. If we can get higher than 90 per cent, that’s even better.

Goff said that yesterday the city had hit the target of 80 percent of Aucklanders having had at least one dose, with more than half of that number becoming fully vaccinated.

“More than 20,000 people a day have been getting immunised, but more than 200,000 still need to book or get their first vaccination,” he said.

Stringent measures
“New Zealand did the right thing in putting in place stringent measures to stop the incursion of covid-19 into our community. We did better than almost any other country.

“However, new variants of covid, currently delta, make it really hard to stop community transmission and we can’t continue indefinitely closing down our economy to stop its spread. The human and financial costs are huge. And sooner or later we will have to open up again to the world.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said at today’s covid media briefing that tools used in the future to fight covid-19 did not need to be as disruptive as the ones used now — such as lockdowns — as long as the country achieved a high vaccination rate.

Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield were speaking after the release of new modelling which suggests lockdowns may still be needed if the country achieved an 80 percent vaccination rate.

Ardern said vaccine certificates, better ventilation, some mask use, and the possibility of changing border restrictions so a full 14-day quarantine was not required could be used in the future.

But for now vaccination was the main tool.

“It all comes down to vaccination.”

Lockdowns needed in first phase
She said lockdowns were needed in the first phase of the pandemic because there were no vaccines and everyone had to be isolated.

“With vaccines, we can turn that model on its head,” she said, so positive cases could be isolated as others have the protection of vaccines.

“Children can’t be vaccinated. It will reach them. And we’ve seen it reach them in this outbreak,” she said.

The plan was never zero cases, but “zero tolerance” for covid, she said.

The Health Ministry announced 15 new community cases of covid-19 today, a drop of seven on yesterday.

Ardern said the government’s plan for the future, included aggressively isolating cases, catching cases at the border, and ensuring the health system was not overwhelmed.

“It’s not the Aotearoa way to leave anyone behind,” she said.

“There remains one simple message – Get vaccinated.”

Today was the second day that Auckland was at alert level 3 after five weeks in lockdown.

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

New Zealand’s Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says the country may never find out the source of the current outbreak, while Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she lies awake at night pondering the ways in which it may have happened.

In today’s update, Dr Bloomfield said there were 49 new cases of covid-19, all in Auckland.

He said we may never find out how the virus got into the community in the latest outbreak.

• READ MORE: 49 new covid cases in the NZ community

Ardern said she lay awake at night pondering the ways in which it might have happened.

“Now we’re left with theories without people-to-people contact,” she says.

Dr Bloomfield yesterday welcomed the lower number of new cases – 53, down from 83 the previous day – but with lower testing numbers on Sunday cautioned against putting too much stock in it, saying it was just one data point.

Ardern also announced Auckland would remain in lockdown until at least September 14, and Northland would likely move into level 3 just two days after the rest of the country’s Tuesday night change.

Progress but caution needed
Today Ardern said alert level 3 for all of Aotearoa south of Auckland is progress but still required “a high level of caution”.

“Bubbles stay in place,” she said.

She said it was not until level 2 that people could contact those outside their bubble.

She also reiterated that delta had meant changes to level 3.

Watch today’s covid-19 update

49 new community cases. Video: RNZ News

Facemasks needed
Outward facing businesses must have employees wearing facemasks and everyone else were encouraged to wear masks while out and about, she said.

“Stay at home, keep bubbles small, exercise and shop locally, keep your distance from people … work from home if possible, keep young and old people at home.”

Ardern said public venues remained closed.

From tomorrow, all people aged 12 and older could book in for a vaccination.

To businesses, Ardern said operating must meet health measures.

Travel across the alert level 3 and 4 boundary was strictly limited, she said.

The boundary is there to “stop the spread of a particularly tricky and infectious virus”, she said.

Tail needs to be ‘short as possible’
She wanted the declining case number to decline.

“We want the tail of this outbreak to be as short as possible.”

Ardern said the alert level for the South Island would be reassessed in a week’s time.

The government did not want to make decisions that were “premature”, she said.

“We would not have moved to an alert level 3 environment if we did not think it was safe.”

The government was being overly cautious and using level 3 in a place where it might have once used level 2.

Ardern said everyone from “all walks of life” needed to be the best roles models they could be.

Vaccine strategy
She said the vaccine strategy was always to ramp up towards the end of the year.

“Every day for me is another step, a bit of progress, but I want to see sustained reductions … we’ve still got a journey to go through,” Ardern said of case numbers dropping.

Ardern said that by and large, MIQ had done the job of keeping the virus out of New Zealand.

The fact that it has been so long without the virus in the country showed how rigorous the MIQ system was, Bloomfield said.

Ardern said the outbreak had shown how important elimination and vaccination were.

Dr Bloomfield said teams were looking at alert level 2 settings and how they could be strengthened – including mask use.

Ardern said the government would give people a refresher on the rules for alert level 2 when needed.

Frustrated over Parliament
On Parliament sitting today, Ardern said she was frustrated because there were alternative ways to do it.

“It is a disappointment that we could not have been as agile as the rest of New Zealand.”

“Our view was that moving to an online forum would have allowed opposition MPs to have access to MPs from across the country.”

While MPs were essential workers and legally allowed to travel, it was up to them to choose to travel, she said.

She reiterated her disappointment in the decision by opposition parties to reject an online sitting of Parliament.

Dr Bloomfield said his advice on Parliament – if it had to sit – was around mask use, social distancing and the number of people that could be in the debating chamber safely.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health was facing continued criticism from vaccinees over its communications about a possible dosage error that may have meant some were getting saline instead of a Pfizer shot.

After people affected were told they would receive a letter, a couple vaccinated on the day in question received just one email between them which advised calling an 0800 number that did not answer their questions.

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

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.

• READ MORE: Other West Papuan covid pandemic reports

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.