Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson and Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay are giving the latest update on the government’s Covid-19 response.
Watch the media conference here:
Further testing is under way Taranaki after Covid-19 was detected in wastewater at Stratford. South Taranaki iwi health provider Ngati Ruanui said it was notified of a strong positive Covid-19 wastewater test result in the town.
Health Ministry CEO Siale ‘Akau’ola said yesterday the Ministry of Health had not responded to allegations made on social media to protect the privacy of the suspected Covid patient.
Health Ministry CEO Siale ‘Akau’ola. Photo/screenshot
He said the Ministry had been very careful not to release any information that might identify the person.
He said the patient should have been advised not to release any information.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said information had been released through various channels, which had caused problems.
Prime Minister’s concerns
During yesterday’s press conference a journalist asked why the patient was allowed to contact other people on his mobile phone.
He said this was why there were concerns in the social media that the government should take the situation seriously because what had been leaked from the MIQ included information that was unreliable.
He asked Prime Minister Pōhiva Tuʻiʻonetoa to make a firm decision on the claim.
In his response, Tuʻiʻonetoa said he had just received a message on his mobile phone and was disappointed with what had been revealed in it.
The Prime Minister did not go into details on what he had received, but it appeared it was the video clip which was widely shared on Facebook purporting to show the patient talking to what appeared to be family members on a mobile phone while the conversation was being recorded on another phone.
Associate Professor ‘Amelia Tu’ipulotu, the Minister of Health. Photo / screenshot
Serious accusations
In that conversation serious accusations were made against the government, including claims they were lying to the public when they said the patient had been taken to the Mu’a MIQ on Saturday. The patient said he was taken on Monday this week.
During the conversation the patient said he had tested negative, but the Ministry kept on telling the public the test was positive.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said two tests must be carried out to confirm a negative result. The patient’s second test would be tomorrow, Friday 5.
Kaniva News reported yesterday that Dr ‘Akau’ola said the patient had returned a weak positive result and had now tested negative.
The Prime Minister said: “I have listened to it (the recording of the conversation) and I did not like the attitude of their conversation and it said the patient was taken to Mu’a MIQ,” the Prime Minister said.
Tu’i’onetoa asked the meeting for his officials to clarify when did they take the patient to the MIQ.
“I want to confirm that”, he said.
Respect for the patient
The Minister of Health and her CEO were looking at each other before the CEO apologised to the Prime Minister and the conference, saying it was true the patient was taken on Monday not Saturday as he was advised, because of some paper work issues.
The CEO said the Ministry highly respected the patient.
“We wanted to protect his identity,” Dr ‘Akau’ola said.
“He is carrying a huge burden and the people’s concerns as well.
“As I look at it there was a weakness as he should have been given proper counselling advice for him not to release any information.
“However we learnt from this”, the CEO said.
Family
This morning some family members of the patient were concerned that some posts on Facebook targeted the patient’s paternal side, whose surname is Pāongo.
The posts included one which said the problem was that the family should have not released the identity of the patient to the public because it would backfire on them.
Another said the whole family could be stigmatised by the situation, something that is extremely common in Tonga.
It said some families or clans were stigmatised with “kilia”, the Tongan word for leprosy, in the past. Nowadays it was a stigma that people used to identify those families whenever there was any dissatisfaction with them.
Vēili Pāongo contacted Kaniva News and said he was disappointed with the post and wanted to make a response.
He said he contacted the poster and they apologised.
Police say a family are lucky to have escaped serious injuries after a suspected gang shooting in Auckland last night.
Police at the scene of the shooting in Yates Road, Māngere Photo: RNZ/ Marika Khabazi
Police were called to Yates Road, in Māngere, just after 11.30pm, after reports of gunshots being fired at a home.
A vehicle was also heard leaving the area at speed.
Police believe the incident was gang related but the offenders targeted the wrong address.
The home had a number of children inside and had no gang connections.
“We are taking this incident extremely seriously and will be undertaking a number of enquiries today to identify and locate those responsible,” police said in a statement.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police by phone on 105 and quote file number 211104/5280.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Health officials are investigating the death of a person who had Covid-19 and was isolating at home in Auckland.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. Photo: Pool / NZME / Mark Mitchell
The person tested positive for Covid-19 on 24 October and had been self-isolating in Manukau.
They were found by a family member who visited on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Health has said the cause of death was unknown and the coroner would determine whether it was due to the virus or something else.
Director General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said there was no indication at this stage they required any extra support, but a formal investigation was under way.
“We got notified late yesterday afternoon by the police, who had been called by a family member who found this person deceased, and that’s a tragic situation.
“At this stage we don’t have any more information but we do have a very formal investigation protocol that we initiated to look and see what might have happened from a health perspective and will work with police.”
He understood the person was isolating alone at home.
Because it was an unexplained death it would be referred to the coroner, Bloomfield said.
Bloomfield said a daily check-in is standard procedure for those isolating at home.
“For most people that will be simply through electronic feedback – an email that they will send in with information about their symptoms. If an email isn’t received then that’s followed up with a phone call.”
On whether the person was getting all the help they needed or had asked for further assistance, Bloomfield said they had no further information on that, and there was no indication at this stage on whether person was high risk.
The first assessment of a person with Covid-19 is a “thorough process” to find out what support they need, and their potential risk to themselves or others, he said.
That was the point health officials found out whether the person has access to emails or needs phone calls instead.
“There is a range of options available for anyone isolating at home.”
He hoped to give more information about today, including whether the person was a high-risk individual.
“There’s no sense yet if the death is related to Covid or another cause,” he said.
Manurewa/Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman said it would be a very distressing time for the person’s family.
“We’re wanting to ensure that those people who are Covid-positive, and whānau who are affected by that diagnosis, are receiving all the support they need in a community, obviously, which is complex in terms of the wider economic and social challenges we face.
“Most people in New Zealand are going to face an outbreak of Covid in their community with about 80 or 90 percent full vaccination coverage.
“My community in Auckland faced it with about 20 percent vaccination coverage.”
Northland
Bloomfield said household and workplace contacts of the two unexplained Northland cases had so far returned negative test results.
They remained in isolation, and it was still possible they positive in the coming days.
There were 26,999 vaccine doses administered yesterday, including 6659 first doses and 20,340 second doses. The Ministry said 89 percent of New Zealanders have now had their first dose and 77 percent are fully vaccinated.
A person who tested positive for Covid 19 in Tonga has now tested negative, says the Ministry of Health CEO today.
Chief executive of Tonga’s Ministry of health Dr Siale Akauola. Photo: RNZ Pacific/Christine Rovoi
Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said another test is expected on Friday for the patient.
He said the Covid-positive person who arrived in Tonga from Christchurch would continue to stay in the MIQ until his 21-day quarantine was over.
Dr ‘Akau’ola, who joined the Prime Minister and a team of government officials in a press conference this afternoon, said he was advised on Monday that the person had provided a second negative test.
Dr ‘Akau’ola reiterated during the conference that the sample from the patient was tested on Thursday, October 28 and Friday, October 29. He referred to the positive result as “weak positive”.
New Zealand weak positive case
The Tonga case came after a weak positive case was tested negative on its second test in New Zealand.
“The person had a high CT value, indicating a weak positive result, and was tested again following their initial positive result last week”, Stuff reported.
Tested on all machines
‘Akau’ola said the person’s sample was tested on all three of the Health’s COVID-19 testing machines on October 28.
He also repeated what he had said in the previous conference on Friday that the weak virus can be a historical virus or a baby virus which tried to grow, but was stopped by the antibiotic because the patient was fully vaccinated.
“The nature of the virus is shedding and it can be negative or positive at various times and this is why we have the 21-day quarantine rule.”
All the people on the flight from Christchurch were required to have negative Covid tests prior to departure.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said the positive case was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine,and had their second dose on October 15.
Tonga’s main island Tongatapu is currently on lockdown for one week until next week Monday 8.
A West Coast couple have chosen to close their gym, instead of turning away customers who are not vaccinated.
Powerhouse Fitness Centre manager Rachel Fifield owns the Reefton gym with her husband Murray Fifield.
The new Covid-19 Protection Framework, or traffic-light system was announced as the couple were moving the fitness centre to new premises and it made them consider if they wanted to continue the business.
Rachel Fifield said the couple did not want to discriminate against its members or employees based on their personal choice whether or not to get vaccinated.
“We both agreed that we weren’t prepared to do the government’s dirty work for them and discriminate against our community and that is exactly why we closed our gym, it is a political stand against tyranny, we won’t enforce discrimination of any kind.
“I think New Zealand needs to look at this really seriously, the division that it’s making in our communities, families and workplaces.”
The couple had recently spent thousands buying new gym equipment and painting their new building ahead of what would have been the gym’s third birthday.
She said the decision was not made lightly and the couple had since received support from around the country for their stance.
CEO of the Ministry of Health Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola said today the Ministry’s testing systems didn’t lie.
Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola, Ministry of Health CEO
Dr ‘Akau’ola was rejecting rumours on social media that the Ministry was lying about the existence of a positive case from last Thursday’s repatriation flight from Christchurch.
His response came after Kaniva sent him an audio file which has been widely shared on Facebook. The file purports to be the voice of the Tongan patient being quarantined saying his test was negative. The man in the audio file says that he was one of a group of Mormon church missionaries who tested positive.
There is no evidence the audio is genuine and people have argued it was important to trust the Ministry and the health professionals who were educated and trained to do the job. However, the audio file has also sparked outrage online with critics taking it seriously. They accused the government of lying.
Dr ‘Akau’ola told Kaniva News this morning the sample from the patient was tested on Thursday, October 28 and Friday, October 29. He referred to the positive result as “weak positive”.
He previously said the person’s sample was tested on all three of the Health’s COVID-19 testing machines on October 28.
In confirming the Vaiola hospital lap test positive results he said: “It was not lying”.
“It can be a historical virus or a baby virus which tried to grow, but was stopped by the antibiotic because the patient was fully vaccinated. The testing equipment cannot tell the difference between these two aspects of the virus,” Dr ‘Akau’ola said.
“The next test for the patient will tell whether it was a weak virus and it became negative and that test will be conducted on Wednesday or Thursday. If it is negative let’s be grateful because it shows the antibody managed to stop the virus from growing. Thanks New Zealand for vaccinating the person.
“The nature of the virus is shedding and it can be negative or positive at various times and this is why we have the 21-day quarantine rule.”
All the people on the flight from Christchurch were required to have negative Covid tests prior to departure.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health said the positive case was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine,and had their second dose on October 15.
Tonga’s main island Tongatapu is currently on lockdown for one week until next week Monday 8.
Tonga has announced a snap lockdown for main island Tongatapu after a person tested positive for Covid, the first case since the worldwide pandemic.
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa. Photo/Kalino Lātū (Kaniva Tonga)
The Prime Minister said the main island will go on lockdown for one week starting tomorrow Tuesday 2 at 12.01 am until Monday 8 at 11.59pm.
The case was detected in Nuku’alofa, after three tests conducted at the Vaiola hospital lap on samples from 215 passengers who flew from Christchurch to Tonga on Wednesday.
Authorities say they are working on the assumption that the new case was the Delta variant.
Around 62 per cent of Tonga’s population has been fully vaccinated.
The lockdown announcement was made according to the lockdown alert levels used in New Zealand and Australia.
The Prime Minister said essential services including businesses like banks and the market will stay open.
All schools are closed before the high school national exams starting on Tuesday 9, after the one-week lockdown ends on Monday 8.
Funeral services were allowed with 10 people inside and 20 outside
