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Covid-19 surge: PM rules out return to red traffic light setting – for now

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

Despite an increase in Covid-19 cases there is no need at present for the country to shift back into the red traffic light setting, the prime minister says.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

Jacinda Ardern says the traffic light settings have been reviewed recently. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Covid-19 cases are on the rise again and a new subvariant, BA.2.75, has been detected here for the first time.

There were 9629 new community cases announced today and the seven-day rolling average was 7246 compared with 5480 last Tuesday.

On Friday afternoon, genome sequencing confirmed two cases in New Zealand with the BA.2.75 subvariant of Omicron.

The two cases had recently travelled from India where it had previously been detected.

The Ministry of Health said the characteristics of the subvariant may enhance its ability to evade immunity.

There was early evidence overseas that it might be slightly more transmissible than BA.2.

Speaking in Australia, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the settings were recently reviewed, and New Zealand would only move to red if it would have a material effect on slowing case numbers.

“Keep in mind we have really important rules at the orange setting that are there to protect us,” Ardern said.

“Having just come from Europe, also recently the United States, even being here in Australia I can tell you that New Zealand is still using measures many other countries don’t.”

One main change under red would be gathering limits, however, there was still a question mark over whether that would make much difference, given the notable rise in infections among older New Zealanders.

She said the two most important measures to reduce the spread of the virus were vaccinations and mask use.

“I encourage our older New Zealanders to go out and get that booster shot and for people to keep using their masks and if you’re sick isolate at home.

“The point here is we have to do things that make a difference to what we’re seeing now.”

New Zealand had hung on to mask use and vaccinations partly because winter was putting additional pressure on the country’s health system, Ardern said .

University of Auckland infectious disease expert Dr Siouxsie Wiles told RNZ yesterday that another wave of Covid-19 had been expected and should not come as a surprise.

She urged people to wear masks in “as many situations as they can”, remember to ventilate rooms as much as possible and stay up to date with all vaccine doses.

University of Canterbury professor and Covid-19 modeller Michael Plank said infections could potentially hit a similar peak to the first March wave of around 20,000 cases per day.

Notorious Tongatapu machete attacker jailed after man loses hand

By
Kaniva Staff
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A man who hacked his victim’s arm with a machete has been jailed for seven years.

Kaumavae Fakaanga, 35, pleaded not guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm but later changed his plea to guilty.

His charge stemmed from an incident at Tokomololo in which Fakaanga attacked the victim Sosefo Tu’akoi, 44,  with a machete. Tu’akoi’s  left hand was injured during the attack and was later amputated.

The court was told that on  May 7, 2021 Tu’akoi attacked the victim in a hall at the  Church of Tonga after a drinking confrontation with other people. The victim attempted to clam down the prisoner. However, at one stage, the prisoner ran outside and returned with a knife. When he saw the victim was holding a baseball bat, he moved back and started swearing.

The victim threw the bat at the prisoner from a distance of about six metres to try to scare him away, the court was told.

The prisoner then disappeared and the victim then turned back to go into the hall. As he passed a chair near the door on the veranda, he heard someone screaming: ‘Don’t Mavae’. The victim looked back and saw the prisoner swinging the machete down onto his head. The victim raised his left hand to shield himself. The machete struck his elbow. He moved back. The prisoner also moved back and screamed: ‘I’m going to beat the shit out of you’.

A minute or so later, the prisoner attacked again. The victim tried to hold the prisoner to prevent further injury, but the prisoner struck towards the victim’s head again. Again, the victim raised his left hand to shield himself. The second blow with the machete severed three of Sosefo’s fingers on his left hand. A third struck his head.

The victim was taken to hospital with lacerations to his left arm and scalp, broken bones and nerve damage. The palm of his hand later became infected. As a result of his injuries, the victim required surgery during which his left hand had to be amputated. He was hospitalised for about two months and had to attend clinic appointments during a third.

Previous convictions

The court was also told the prisoner had previous convictions including one in 2013 in which he was sentenced by the Magistrates Court to a total of nine months’ imprisonment for housebreaking and theft.

Later that year, he was sentenced by the Supreme Court  to three years imprisonment for causing bodily harm with the last year suspended on conditions. That offending also involved alcohol and the premeditated and retributive use of a machete.

Between 2003 and 2007, he was convicted of alcohol and drug related offences.

Probation recommendation

In his case with Tu’akoi, a probation officer told the court the prisoner was not  a ‘high risk to his family or the community’ and that rehabilitation may help ‘pave the right path for him.’ For those reasons, the probation officer recommended a fully suspended sentence on conditions.

In relation to the offending, the prisoner, who represented himself in court, said that he initially pleaded not guilty because he believed that he was innocent. However, he later pleaded guilty because he was ‘confused’. He said he was not being able to recall what happened due to being ‘really intoxicated’ and having ‘blacked out a few times’. He also told the probation officer that he asked the victim for forgiveness and that his family visited the Tu’akoi while he was in the hospital.

Sentencing

Sentencing the prisoner, Lord Chief Justice Whitten said:  “The Defendant is convicted of causing grievous bodily harm and is sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

“The final year of the sentence is to be suspended for a period of two years on the following conditions, namely that during the said period of suspension, the Defendant is to:

(a) not commit any offence punishable by imprisonment;

(b) be placed on probation;

(c) report to the probation office within 48 hours of his release from prison;

(d) abstain from consuming alcohol or illicit drugs; and (e) undertake such rehabilitative courses on life skills and alcohol and drugs awareness as may be directed by his probation officer.

“Any breach of those conditions is likely to result in the Defendant being required to serve the balance of his term of imprisonment.

Covid-19: Epidemiologist says next wave of Omicron may have begun

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

An epidemiologist believes the next Omicron wave may have begun, with an upsurge in Covid-19 figures in the past few days.

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Michael Baker said a jump in Covid-19 case numbers last week made it very likely a new wave of Omicron was starting to hit. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The Ministry of Health yesterday reported the seven-day rolling average of community cases sat at 6825, having risen by more than 2000 in a week.

Hospitalisations have also climbed by 33 percent in seven days, with 423 people now in hospital with the virus.

University of Otago epidemiologist professor Michael Baker said this surge in numbers suggested the next wave of the pandemic was starting.

“Now we’ve had a couple of months of declining case numbers and a plateau across the country, but this is a very marked increase in numbers just in the last week – so I think that’s very convincing.”

It was unclear at this stage how big or prolonged the next Omicron wave could be, he said.

The development was not unexpected, Baker said.

“We are seeing multiple factors favouring the virus at the moment, and the most marked of course is the arrival of more new infectious subvariants of Omicron.”

That includes BA.4 and BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 which are causing pandemic waves overseas, he said.

Baker said waning immunity over the coming months may also lead to more spread of the virus.

On Thursday, Covid-19 Response Minister Ayesha Verrall said that the country needed to remain at the orange traffic light setting because case numbers were “creeping up”.

She said hospitals were also under pressure from the flu, but that Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations still remained much lower than the peaks experienced earlier in the year.

China will not pressure Tonga over repaying debt, says Tongans have benefitted from loans

By
Philip Cass
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Chinese Ambassador to Tonga Cao Xiaolin.

China will not pressure Tonga if it is unable to repay its multi million debt, according to the Communist state’s Ambassador Cao Xiaolin.

His comments followed a visit to Tonga at the beginning of June by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Speaking to the Tongan media, Cao said China would not force countries to repay their loans. If Tonga was not able to repay its loan, China would “talk in a friendly way” to find a solution.

Tonga owes China an estimated US$120 million .

Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni has confirmed that he and Wang discussed Tonga’s debt.

Western states have accused Beijing of “debt-trap diplomacy” involving extending concessional loans to poor nations and extracting political concessions in return.

The former Prime Minister, the late ‘Akilisi Pohiva, tried unsuccessfully to have the debt written off. In 2018 he announced that Tonga would begin repaying the debt.

While Leader of the Opposition Pohiva warned that one day China would demand the right to establish a naval base in Tonga as repayment.

Answering a journalist’s question, Cao rejected comparisons with Sri Lanka, where China has taken a 99 year lease on the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka’s south for US$1.1 billion.

This week an Indian analyst accused Beijing of practising debt-trap diplomacy in taking over the port.

The Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka said none of the proceeds from the 2017 deal were used to repay the debt Colombo owed to Beijing.

It said the money was used to pay off Sri Lanka’s foreign debts.  None of the money was used to pay Sri Lanka’s $8 billion debt to China.

Ambassador Cao told the assembled journalists that Tonga had benefitted from the Chinse loans.

He said it was good that Tonga had  begin to repay the loan, which he said was a sign of the healthy state of the Tongan economy.

The ambassador reiterated what he described as the shared experiences of Tonga and China and said the 800 Chinese living in the kingdom had become part of the society.

On the issue if Taiwan, Ambassador Cao said Tonga had acknowledged that Taiwan was part of China when it opened relationships with China 26 years ago. In return, China would support Tongan territorial integrity.

The ambassador took a swipe at Australia and the United States over their reaction to Solomon Islands signing a security agreement with Beijing.

He said the former British protectorate was now an independent country and any attempt to interfere in its domestic affairs was disrespectful.

He said the Solomons was not anybody’s backyard – a clear reference to Australia – and criticised nations which had tested  nuclear weapons in the Pacific, meaning the United States and France.

Objections to the security agreement were not logical. China had the right to make friends with anybody.

He said his country did have no plans to have a military base or troops in the Solomons.

China would continue to defend the rights of Island states, he said.

Wallaby superstar Folau to make Tonga debut

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

Israel Folau’s four-year exile from Test rugby will end on Saturday when he starts for Tonga against Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup.

Flying wing Folau played 73 Tests for Australia before being sacked in 2019 for posting homophobic messages on his social media account.

Israel Folau has recommitted to the NSW Waratahs and Wallbies until 2022

Israel Folau Photo: © Clay Cross / Photosport Ltd 2018

He will line up alongside former All Blacks Charles Piutau and Malakai Fekitoa.

Two others switching are scrum-half Augustine Pulu and Fiji centre Seta Tamanivalu, who both played a handful of Tests for the All Blacks.

They have all taken advantage of new eligibility rules which allow players to represent a country where they have a birthright, providing they haven’t played Test rugby for three years.

Pacific Rugby Players Association co-founder and chief executive Hale T-Pole described the players who have switched allegiance as “pioneering” for the game in the cash-starved Pacific islands and predicted more would follow.

T-Pole told AFP the veteran quintet, were just the tip of the iceberg and several more former Test stars would become available for Fiji, Tonga and Samoa ahead of the November international window.

More will be eligible in time for next year’s World Cup in France, but he said much would hinge on how the teams perform on and off the pitch during the Pacific Nations Cup, which takes place over the next three weekends and also features an Australia A team.

T-Pole said the professionalism of the Pacific Nations would be a key factor in convincing others with overseas club contracts to commit to playing Test rugby

“I’m not saying we have to roll out the red carpet, but the three unions have got to do everything right,” he said.

“It all comes down to the experience that these fellas like Charles and Malakai have, and what they then say and do.

“If they go back with a good message of their experience in the environment, then a lot more will put their hand up and won’t sit around watching TV at the next international window.”

Fekitoa, raised as one of 14 children on the tiny island of Ha’apai, tweeted this week of his thrill at joining his new team-mates, four years after his last All Blacks Test.

“I am very proud to have been a part of the best team in the world but at the same time I want to contribute something great to Tonga, my country, my homeland and where my heart belongs,” he wrote.

World Rugby has long been accused of ignoring the financially poor Pacific islands, where talented players must move overseas to pursue professional careers.

T-Pole says governance of the game in the three biggest Pacific unions of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa is improving and the introduction this year of Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika into Super Rugby was an important change.

“World Rugby has always listened. It was more about us getting our act together with our governance,” he said.

“You can’t just turn around and say ‘we want this and this’ when, in house, everything is not aligned.

“We were struggling commercially with fans and sponsorship but it’s looking brighter for Pacific rugby. There’s a lot of good people out there who want this to work for us,” he said.

Vanuatu government says proposal to deliver air services for Tonga would be a ‘win-win’  

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Government of Vanuatu wants Air Vanuatu to be granted the right to deliver regional and international air services on behalf of Tonga.

Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur (R), CEO ‘Atu Finau (Middle). Photo/Supplied

Vanuatu Prime Minister Bob Loughman Weibur has asked Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni to sign an air services agreement.

The ni-Vanuatu Prime Minister said such an agreement could come into effect in a “post Covid” world.

His country’s Covid travel restrictions will be  lifted on July 1.

Weiobur said the proposal would entail a “a win-win for our national airlines and governments, post-COVID.”

Such an agreement would allow Air Vanuatu to ensure that fares between the two Island nations, Australia and New Zealand would remain stable.

He said this would overcome the problem of larger airlines setting prices and schedules.

“Such an arrangement would serve as a firm foundation for the creation of an equitable and collective multi-national air transport system for our countries and those of our fellow nations in Oceania,” Prime Minister Weibur said.

The ni-Vanuatu government is the primary shareholder of Air Vanuatu.

Air Vanuatu’s chief executive officer ‘Atu Fīnau said the airline’s planned to increase its Pacific connections.

Air Vanuatu had presented the shareholders with a business case for the purchase of a second Boeing 737. The airline uses the Boeing airliner on domestic and international routes.

Unclaimed body in Tonga buried

By
Kaniva Staff
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A body, which was in a Nuku’alofa morgue for almost a year, was buried at a public cemetery after no one came forward to claim it.

As Kaniva News reported in August last year, a decomposed body was discovered in Vai-Ko-‘Oa pond in Puke.

A notice was published in local and social media, giving relatives of the deceased an opportunity to claim the remains.

The period ended last month and the remains were still unclaimed.

It is understood a court order was issued allowing the Police to bury the body at Telekava 2 cemetery last month.

Reports said a sample of tissue was removed from the deceased’s body and sent to New Zealand for further examination.

67-year-old man among 4 arrested in Tongatapu drug raid

By
Kaniva Staff
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 Four men were arrested on drug charges after Police searched  Tongatapu  homes.

Police/Supplied

The suspects were arrested with 132 packs of cannabis 130.87g, two packs of 2.25g methamphetamine, drug utensils, and cash of more than TOP$2,000.

“Police disrupted a drug supply sale at a residence at Vaolōloa on Tuesday 21st June 2022”, a statement said.  

“The Police raid resulted in the arrest of 4 male suspects, a 30-year-old male from Kolomotu’a, two 46-year-old males from Longolongo, and a 67-year-old from Vaolōloa.

“Tonga Police encourages the public to continue to work together with Police in keeping our communities safe from the harm caused by drugs by reporting anyone or anything capable of being used as evidence in drug-related activities to 922 or 740-1660”.

Ha‘apai 12 by-election date announced by Speaker

By
Kaniva Staff
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The Ha’apai 12 by-election will be held on September 1, Speaker Lord Fakafanua announced on Monday.

Photo/Kaniva Tonga News

The by-election comes following the death of Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament Viliami Manuopangai Hingano

“The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Lord Fakafanua, today, issued to the Electoral Commission, the writ of election for a by-election to elect a Parliamentary Representative for the people of the Ha’apai 12 Electoral Constituency”, a statement said.

“The by-election is called due to the vacant parliamentary seat for the Ha’apai 12 Constituency, which occurred upon the passing of the Member of Parliament, the late Hon. Vili Manuopangai Faka’osiula Hingano on 10 June 2022.

“The date for the by-election to elect a Representative for the people of Ha’apai 12 was confirmed today for Thursday 1 September 2022, after consultation between the Lord Speaker of Parliament and the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, the Rt. Hon. Lord Dalgety Q.C, as required by section 6 of the Legislative Assembly Act”.

Firefighters battle blaze in Penrose, residents warned to keep windows closed

By
Kaniva Staff
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By RNZ.co.nz

More than 100 firefighters are battling a large blaze with potentially toxic smoke in an industrial building in the Auckland suburb of Penrose.

Generic Stills

Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

Residents in Onehunga, Māngere Bridge and Favona were being told to keep windows closed and stay indoors if possible.

Crews were called to the industrial building in Neilson Street, which was well engulfed by flames, at 1.55am.

Fire and Emergency said potentially toxic smoke was being carried by wind over nearby suburbs.

Incident controller Brad Mosby said firefighters had contained the spread of the blaze but the building was still alight.

“Our firefighters did a really good job to contain the fire spread in the building,” Mosby said.

“To start with, the smoke was going straight up, but the wind is now taking it across Onehunga, Māngere Bridge and Favona, so we’re asking residents to keep their windows shut and stay inside if possible this morning.

Motorists were told lanes on Neilson Street between between Church Street and Angle Street were blocked by emergency service vehicles, and advised to avoid the area.

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