A second test conducted in a New Zealand lab for coronavirus in Tonga hasreturned negative result, the Minister of Health has announced.
The revelation came after a first test, of sample taken from the same patient, was conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Australia last week was negative or non reactive.
As Kaniva news reported last week, a 21-year-old Tongan woman who had recently returned to Tonga after being in Sydney was isolated at Vaiola Hospital after showing signs of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Australia has 22 cases of coronavirus in New South Wales
alone. Two Australians have died from the illness – one in New South Wales and
another in Perth.
The Prime Minister previously said it was World Health Organisation’s procedure to do a second confirmation test on every suspected patient so the government sent the sample to New Zealand on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the total number of cases worldwide neared 120,000 by Wednesday morning, with more than 80,000 in China and more than 10,000 in Italy. Both Iran and South Korea now have around 8,000 confirmed cases and other nations are suggesting they will reach similar levels soon.
A Tongan woman with end-stage kidney disease has been granted a nine month visitor visa by the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
Over the past 20 years the woman has visited new Zealand several times.
In 2017 she was granted a two year visitor’s visa which allowed multiple
visits.
In 2019 she was diagnosed at Vaiola hospital in Tonga with complicated
diabetes mellitus type
2. She had end-stage kidney disease and was advised
that she needed renal haemodialysis, which was not available in Tonga.
On June 24, 2019 she re-entered New Zealand on a visitor visa and in September
that year she began dialysis
at Middlemore Hospital. She
lodged an appeal last November.
The tribunal was told she would die if returned to Tonga as she needed
dialysis treatment which was not available there.
All of the appellant’s adult children were either New Zealand citizens
or residents. It was important for the
family to be together in view of the appellant’s reduced life expectancy.
The appellant’s children were making a weekly payment of $150 to
Counties Manukau District
Health Board towards
the cost of the
appellant’s treatment. All four children
were working and are paying tax.
“Patients on dialysis treatment have an average extra life of five years
according to figures
from research in the
United States,” the Tribunal
said.
“The appellant is not
therefore going to
require years of
expensive treatment in the hospital system.
“It is in the public interest for the appellant to be in New Zealand
with all her children on a permanent basis. There is a humanitarian element and
it is in the public interest for the appellant to be with her children in the
last few years of her life. It is also in the public interest not to send
someone to die in their own country.”
The Tribunal said the number of Tongans entering New Zealand to obtain
dialysis was not going to fall while Tonga was unable to provide such
treatment. The costs to New Zealand’s public health system
of treating those
who did manage
to get to
New Zealand was significant.
The situation of newly arrived Tongans needing treatment for end-stage
kidney failure and how New Zealand could most cost effectively assist Tonga to
respond to its public health needs in this area was most appropriately
addressed at a political level.
The issue of whether someone from Tonga who came to New Zealand to
access dialysis should be granted residence and on what conditions was
essentially a political decision for the Minister who could consider such cases
in a wider political context, including the links between Tonga and New Zealand
through the history of migration.
The Tribunal said a visitor visa would enable the appellant to remain
lawfully in New Zealand for another nine
months where she could continue to receive essential medical treatment. During that time she would have the option of
seeking a resident or further visitor visa from the Minister as an exception to
instructions.
The main points
A Tongan woman with end-stage kidney disease has been
granted a nine month visitor visa by the New Zealand Immigration and Protection
Tribunal.
The Tribunal said a visitor visa would enable the
appellant to seek a resident or further visitor visa from the Minister.
The Immigration and Protection Tribunal has ordered a 63 years-old man to be deported.
The appeal was made on the grounds that the appellant had exceptional
circumstances of a humanitarian nature that would make it unjust or unduly
harsh for him to be deported and whether it would not in all the circumstances
be contrary to the public interest to allow him to remain in New Zealand.
The man entered New Zealand for the first time in 1985. He re-entered
the country in 1998 and remained unlawfully for two years. He and his partners
were granted work visas in 2001 and resident visas in 2003.
In 2007 the appellant was convicted of the first of a series of
offences, including assaulting his partner, driving under the influence and driving
without a license.
In November 2016, the appellant was convicted and sentenced for two
offences of sexual conduct with a person under 16 years and sexual violation by
rape.
The judge noted that the aggravating factors included premeditation, the
particular vulnerability of the victim, given her young age, the gross breach
of trust, and repeated offending over a lengthy period of time.
The appellant was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, covering both
offences.
On 3 July 2017, the appellant was issued with a Deportation Liability
Notice. The appellant’s first parole date is
17 January 2020,
and his statutory release date is
15 September 2026.
The man continues to deny the sexual assault charge. He claimed he had
nowhere to go in Tonga.
However, the Tribunal found that he would continue to pose a risk of
sexual offending and that he had relatives in Tonga who could support him.
“The appellant does
not have exceptional
circumstances of a humanitarian nature: separation from family
in New Zealand is not in itself out of the ordinary,” the Tribunal said.
“He has caused significant harm through his offending, so it is unclear
how he will be able to resume a relationship with his family here.”
The application was denied.
The main points
The Immigration and Protection Tribunal has ordered a
63 years-old man to be deported.
The Tribunal said the man would continue to pose a
risk of sexual offending and that he had relatives in Tonga who could support
him.
Kiliki ‘i he ‘ōtiō ‘i ‘olunga’ ke ke fanongo ki he fakataha ‘a e ‘Eiki Palēmia’ mo e kāinga Tongatapu 2. Audios of the Prime Minister’s meeting in Tongatapu 2 were provided by the Prime Minister’s office and transcribed and translated into English by Kaniva News. This English version of the audio had been abridged.
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Gov’t says yes to Tt2’s urgent needs, establishes Anti-Corruption Commission; PM clarifies sports teams evacuated from China and why non-gov’t MPs not part of Cabinet team at constituency meetings
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa said the non-government Members of Parliament were not part of his government team which visited and met with constituencies because they were not civil servants or Cabinet Ministers.
He said these non-government MPs’
leader was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly to whom they were
accountable.
He said these MPs were free to attend
the constituency meetings just like any members of the public.
The Prime Minister was responding
after a Tongatapu 2 constituent queried him, implying she believed the government
was snubbing their MP, Hon. Semisi Sika.
Hon Tu’i’onetoa said he wanted to
clarify this because there was a misunderstanding about it.
He said the state’s power was divided
into three branches, the executive government, the Legislative Assembly and the
Judiciary.
He said he has a constitutional right
to meet with the people.
The Prime Minister also assured the
Tongatapu 2 community the Anti-Corruption Commission would be established.
The meeting was told the king has
signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption in February.
A constituent questioned the travel costs and daily allowances spent by Cabinet ministers on the meetings. The Prime Minister said they were not paid per diem.
The Prime Minister said the negotiations to evacuate the Tongan sports teams from China to the UK were only made between officials from governments concerned and no one else. He said he heard rumours saying that members of the public were involved but he told his staff to ignore it.
He said he was accused during the meeting of announcing that the government had no money to bring back the Tongan sports teams from China. The Prime Minister denied this and said may be the person who had accused him has got it wrongly from Facebook.
The Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet, Edgar Cocker, said the government had paid a doctor and a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official to fly to the UK and look after the sports teams which were evacuated from China.
Cocker was responding to questions
from the meeting.
He said the Tongan government paid for
the food, medication, accommodation and all other expenses for the sports
trainees while they were being quarantined in London.
He said the Chinese government paid
for their airfares, which was part of the contract agreement between the
Chinese and the Tongan governments to bring and train them in China.
Cocker also revealed Tonga and New Zealand had signed an aid agreement for New Zealand to fund surveillance cameras in areas which would include Tongatapu 2.
Minister of Police responses
All Cabinet ministers who were at the meeting assured the Tongatapu 2 constituents that works must be done to address the urgent needs they raised during the meeting.
The Minister of Police Lord Nuku said these government-led meetings were different from the Parliament’s annual constituency meetings.
The noble said this
was an opportunity for the MPs to urge
their constituents to give their urgent needs directly to the Prime Minister
and the Cabinet ministers.
He said in Parliament the opposition MPs and Cabinet Ministers regularly have opposing views on what should be done for the public.
The Minster said Tongatapu 2 has recorded the highest illicit drugs use of all the constituencies.
Lord Nuku said there were concerns about nightclubs and loud music being played but Police can only be able to respond and attend incidents if they had received complaints from the public.
The Minister of Police urged the constituents to complain to police whenever they had problems.
Minister of Infrastructure responses
The Minister of Infrastructure ‘Akosita Lavulavu said she was elated to meet the Tongatapu 2 constituents.
She said her Ministry had begun working in Fanga ‘O Pilolevu by repairing the Neivi Road.
Hon Lavulavu said the Ministry would also repaint the pedestrian crossing markings as requested.
In response to a request from a Ngele’ia mother to make their roads safer Hon Lavulavu said her Ministry will install speed humps to help reduce vehicle speeds.
She said the Ministry was currently installing speed humps on Touliki and Sopu roads.
The Minister said she’ll meet with anyone with issues they’d like to discuss and her office door was open to the public.
Minister of Internal Affairs and Finance responses
The Minister of Internal Affairs, Vatau
Hui, responded to requests to post more town officers to towns and villages. Hon.
Hui said the government was working to amend the law to allow appointment of more town and district officers.
The Minister of Finance, Tevita
Lavemaau said the Prime Minister’s top priorities included fighting illicit
drugs, improving education standard, health and economic development.
He said the Prime Minister’s roading
project was part of the economic development
There were requests from Tongatapu 2
for the government to equip and upgrade some of their churches’ halls which
also acted as evacuation centres.
Hon. Lavemaau said locals could write
and apply for assistance for evacuation centres through his office.
He said 73 street lights from Ha’atafu
to Nuku’alofa were expected to be replaced, starting last week.
He said an elderly asked to put street
lights in her road and the government would provide them.
Hon. Lavemaau also said the duty and
tax free status the government had granted to imported building materials would
end on March 12.
He said while the government was
working to extend it to December 2020, people could write to him and asked to
have their building materials made exempt from duty.
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa has revealed this morning that the patient admitted to Vaiola Hospital showing signs of coronavirus hastested negative for the disease.
He said that at 4.30pm Sunday 8, March the Ministry of Health received the result of the test conducted by the Victorian Infectious Diseawse Reference Laboratory in Australia on sample taken from a 21-year-old woman in Tonga and it was negative or non reactive.
He said another sample was taken from the same patient after 48 hours from the time the sample from her was taken and sent to Australia, was sent to a lab in New Zealand on Saturday 7 March for another test. This was made according to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) advice, Hon Tu’i’onetoa said.
It was expected the result from the New Zealand test will be received in Tonga today Tuesday 9 March.
The Prime Minister said WHO has provided Tonga with 30 Infrared Non-Contact Thermometer to be used at the Fua’amotu International Airport for screening of passengers arriving from overseas countries.
He said the same equipment would also be used for the public at Vaiola hospital’s reception.
The government was expected to receive today March 9 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to protect staff from the virus, the Prime Minister said.
The Taliai Camp at Fua’amotu airport has been set up as a quarantine building for any novel Covid-19 patient.
Meanwhile, WHO has provided basic protective measures against the new coronavirus on its website.
This including:
Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth
Why? Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once
contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From
there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.
Practice respiratory
hygiene
Make sure you, and the
people around you, follow good respiratory hygiene. This means covering your
mouth and nose with your bent elbow or tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then
dispose of the used tissue immediately.
Why? Droplets spread virus. By following good respiratory
hygiene you protect the people around you from viruses such as cold, flu and
COVID-19.
If you have fever, cough
and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early
Stay home if you feel
unwell. If you have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical
attention and call in advance. Follow the directions of your local health
authority.
Why? National and local authorities will have the most up to
date information on the situation in your area. Calling in advance will allow
your health care provider to quickly direct you to the right health facility.
This will also protect you and help prevent spread of viruses and other
infections.
Stay informed and follow advice given by your healthcare provider
Stay informed on the
latest developments about COVID-19. Follow advice given by your healthcare
provider, your national and local public health authority or your employer on
how to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
Why? National and local authorities will have the most up to
date information on whether COVID-19 is spreading in your area. They are best
placed to advise on what people in your area should be doing to protect
themselves.
Kiliki ‘i he halangaope ‘i ‘olunga’ ke ke fanongo ki he fakataha ‘a e kāinga Tongatapu 2’ mo e ‘Eiki Palēmia’ ‘i he lea fakaTonga’ Audios of the Prime Minister’s meeting in Tongatapu 2 were provided by the Prime Minister’s office and transcribed and translated into English by Kaniva News. This English version of the audios had been abridged.
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PM’s Tongatapu 2 Meeting: Drainage, footpaths, water, road repairs, streetlights and special care for those who relocated to Tongatapu were urgent needs.
Prime Minister Pōhiva Tu’i’onetoa said most roads in Tongatapu 2 were in good condition.
He said he estimated that only 30 kilometres of roads in the area needed to be filled and sealed. The Prime Minister also said there was an urgent need for water tanks and that this need was common to Tongatapu 2, Tongatapu 3, and Tongatapu 4 residents.
He said there was a problem
with some of the new footpaths because according to maps some had power poles
in the middle.
He said some footpaths needed to be upgraded because they had sharp kerbs.
Hon Tu’i’onetoa said there was an issue after Tonga Power Board and footpath contractors were in dispute over who should pay for the work to move the power poles.
The Prime Minster said three
things needed to be done before constructing footpaths.
Firstly, the constructor had to obtain authorisation from the Minister of Lands to begin construction. Secondly there had to be a process of identifying and labelling power poles, footpaths and the roads. The final part was to request the Tonga Power Board to move power poles to their correct positions.
This work had to be done before drains could be dug.
The Prime Minister said Tonga had no laws regarding footpaths.
Footpath Bills
He said he thanked the
Minister of Infrastructure for proposing laws for footpaths. Bills were
expected to be submitted to Parliament in two months.
The Prime Minister said the
Ministry of Infrastructure had corrected footpath maps in December last year
and these were used for the new footpaths in Ha’ateiho.
Hon Tu’i’onetoa said the new footpaths were different from previous ones, which showed the issues had been resolved.
He also said drainage work in some areas in Tongatapu 2 needed to be repaired as past floods showed they did not work.
Outer islanders relocating to Tongatapu 2
The Prime Minister said there were people in Tongatapu 2 who were relocating from the outer islands and they need help to fill their swampy tax allotments. He said these people needed to be provided with special urgent care.
In his first meeting with the Tongatapu 2 constituents since he was appointed Prime Minister in October 2019, Hon Tu’i’onetoa said he could not be a good leader unless he met with them face to face.
He said this was important because these were the people to whom he was accountable. He was the people’s Prime Minister and they were the people that mattered to him most.
Parable from the Bible
The Prime Minister quoted
the parable from the Holy Bible about the shepherd who left his flock of 99
sheep in order to find the one which was lost.
Jesus was the Good Shepherd and he knew his sheep, he said.
Hon. Tu’i’onetoa said in
their meetings with other constituencies people revealed they found it
difficult to talk to civil servants.
He said the people were
happy to see he met them to hear their urgent needs directly.
He told the Tongatapu 2 he
was meeting them because they were his sheep and he wanted to feed and give
them drinks.
He said he did not have to
stay in his office all the time.
The Prime Minister said
despite having abundant work to do he would not be satisfied unless he met all
the people of the 17 constituencies in Tonga.
He said he would meet them again in a fono organised for the whole of Tonga.
Other concerns
Other concerns from
Tongatapu 2 included asking the government to post a town officer for Fanga ‘O
Pilolevu.
There was a complaint to the
Prime Minister about loud music played and fireworks being let off near
churches while they were having prayer services.
There was a need for the
Fanga O Pilolevu’s public cemetery to be extended and long standing drainage
issues that had to be addressed.
A Fanga ‘O Pilolevu resident said when there was flooding some vehicles stalled while driving through the floodwaters at St Andrew’s School.
A woman asked the government to put more pedestrian crossings on their Fanga ‘O Pilolevu’s Taufa’āhau road and renew paints of the pedestrian markings.
Some Tofoa and Havleuloto residents asked the Prime Minister to seal and repair their roads and provide solar powered lights to some areas. They said some young girls had been abducted from their houses during the night.
A resident in Kolofo’ou asked the Prime Minister to put speed humps on their Hala ‘Unga road to slow speeding vehicles to safe speeds.
The CEO of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ringo Fa’oliu, has been suspended without pay.
Chairman
of the Public Service Commission Simione Sefanaia said Fa’oliu had been
suspended following a complaint about his services.
Sefania
told the Tonga Broadcasting Commission the PSC was investigating the complaint
filed against Fa’oliu.
Fa’oliu
was CEO of the Ministry from 2012 to
2015.
He was not reappointed in 2015 after the then Commission chairman, Mr ‘Uhila Liava’a, wrote to the Minister claiming a series of reports indicated that during Fa’oliu’s term there had been failures to comply with procurement procedures, significant overpayments to contractors and the inappropriate use of daily paid workers.
As
Kaniva news reported at the time, Fa’oliu launched a legal challenge
that ended with a judicial declaration that the PSC’s decision was unlawful.
Lord
Chief Justice Paulsen said the PSC decision to cancel the reappointment of
Fa’oliu was biased and partial.
He
said Liava’a had sat on the Committee that prepared one of the reports that
reflected badly on Fa’oliu’s fitness to be CEO of the Ministry, the judge said.
He
then sat on the Commission to consider Fa’oliu’s appointment and was likely to
have already formed a view that Fa’oliu was not a suitable person to be
reappointed to that role.
“I
think any fair minded observer would conclude that Liava’a was likely to have
had a biased disposition towards Fa’oliu,” the judge said.
The main points
The CEO of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Ringo Fa’oliu, has
been suspended without pay.
Fa’oliu was CEO of the
Ministry from 2012 to 2015.
Tonga has yet to receive results of the suspected coronavirus sample sent to New Zealand.
And while
Tonga waits, the World Health Organisation has warned that the shortage of
masks and other protective equipment was putting the lives of health wormers at
risk.
As Kaniva
news reported earlier this week, Prime Minister Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa confirmed that health authorities have
identified the kingdom’s first suspected case of coronavirus.
The suspect is a 21 year-old Tongan woman who flew into the kingdom from
Sydney. on Monday.
The woman had flu-like symptoms in Australia, but her symptoms became worse
when she got to Tongatapu. The woman went to Vaiola Hospital last week where
she was diagnosed with pneumonia.
Health authorities are looking for people the woman has had contact with
in Tonga, as well as passengers on the aircraft she arrived on.
Risk
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation has confirmed that Tonga is one
of 46 countries to receive additional supplies of personal protective equipment
from the international body.
Other Pacific nations to receive help include Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua
New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
The WHO warned that severe and mounting disruption to the global supply
of personal protective equipment– caused by rising demand, panic buying,
hoarding and misuse – was putting lives at risk.
“Healthcare workers rely on personal protective equipment to protect
themselves and their patients from being infected and infecting others,” the
WHO said.
“But shortages are leaving doctors, nurses and other frontline workers
dangerously ill-equipped to care for COVID-19 patients, due to limited access
to supplies such as gloves, medical masks, respirators, goggles, face shields,
gowns and aprons.”
Cruise ship ban
Weeks after Tonga turned away three cruise ships, Customary authorities
in Wallis and Futuna have banned a planned visit by a German cruise ship to
protect the population against the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The cruise ship Soleal is scheduled to sail from French Polynesia
via the Cook Islands, Samoa and Wallis to Fiji.
The main points
Tonga has yet to receive results of the suspected
coronavirus sample sent to New Zealand.
As Kaniva news reported earlier this week,
Prime Minister Pohiva Tu‘i‘onetoa
confirmed that health authorities have identified the kingdom’s first
suspected case of coronavirus.
Tongan documentary For My Father’s Kingdom will be screened in the United States.
The
film, which has already been screened at
the Berlin and Auckland international films festivals, is being toured through
the United States with support from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation.
The
film has been described as ”an intimate, clear-eyed documentary centred on the
faith, love and fatherhood of Saia Mafile’o, and his four children.”
In
the film Mafile’o remains dedicated to his island culture and gives everything
he can to his church, something which has caused deep divisions in this family
The
Auckland Film Festival said last year: “In trying to understand her father,
director Vea Mafile’o and Jeremiah Tauamiti capture a moving story about
generational difference, resilience and unconditional love.”
Last
November the film was screened to US-based Tongan Methodist Ministers and
community leaders who believed the film would provide an opportunity to bring
different generations of the Tongan diaspora together.
The
ministers were former classmates of Saia.
Vea
Mafile’o said although the film examined her father’s unwavering love for
Tonga, the documentary was a universal story that all viewers could identify
with.
“This
movie really shows the different issues that a lot of our Pacific people face,
be it cultural identity, generational disconnection, sacrifice, faith, family
and the challenges we face as the diaspora and the children of the diaspora,” she
said.
“The film doesn’t have all the answers, but it
provides a space and gives permission for hard tricky things to be talked
about. It covers a number of themes but our main take away would be that
communication is key, take down the barriers, make real connections, young and
old but always come from a place of love.”
Film makers
PCF
CEO Don Mann said he hoped For My Father’s Kingdom would encourage a
generation of Pacific filmmakers to produce their own stories.
“Advances
in technology enables those in the creative sector to think globally,” Mann
said.
“As
natural story tellers, there is a real opportunity for Pacific filmmakers to
have a meaningful place in the global creative sector.”
For My Father’s Kingdom was funded by the New Zealand Film Commission and is
distributed by Rialto Distribution.
The main points
Tongan documentary For My Father’s Kingdom will be
screened in the United States.
The film, which has already been screened at the Berlin and
Auckland international films festivals, is being toured through the United
States with support from the Pacific Cooperation Foundation.
🇱🇷🚨Update: We are coming to the USA! Saia his son Robert & daughter Vea will be screeing in San Francisco, Utah, L.A, Los Vegas, Rino, Arizona, Texas & Hawaii 🚨Stay tuned for updates!! Ofa atuWe are so excited to finally launch the trailer for our film – FOR MY FATHERS KINGDOM! 🇹🇴This is an authentic Tongan🇹🇴 and Pacific story honouring the legacy and sacrifice of our parents. Help us spread the word far and wide by tagging your siblings cousins, Kainga, and village! 🙌🇫🇯🇳🇺🇼🇸🇨🇰🇹🇻🇵🇬🇸🇧🇰🇮🇳🇿🇺🇸🇭🇲🇹🇴#ForMyFathersKingdom #fmfk #TonganFilm #pacificwomenfilmmakers #pacificfilm #Tonganpride #pacificpride #secondgenerationislanders #loveourelders #polynesian #micronesians
Italy will shut down schools across the country until mid-March to curb the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, newswire Ansa reported.
The closure, which starts Thursday, is aimed at tackling the outbreak of the highly contagious disease, which has killed 79 people in the country and crippled the rich northern regions.
As many as 8.7 million children and students will be affected from kindergarten to high schools and universities, as well as their families. Many in the afflicted regions, from Milan to Venice and Bologna, are already confined at home.
The Italian decision follows up on Japan, which is enforcing a complete school shutdown due to last until April. It will will deal a further blow to an economy that was already headed for recession. The government, according to an official, is studying a stimulus package worth 3.6 billion euros ($4 billion) and pushing its deficit above 2.4% of gross domestic product.
