Solomon Islands police officers being trained by China in combat skills and controlling public disorder in Honiara. Image: SBM/RSIPF
Fourteen officers of the Royal Solomon Island Police Force (RSIPF) have completed the first public order management (POM) training conducted by Chinese instructors.
During the two week course, the Police Response Team (PRT) and Operational Safety Training (OST) officers were trained in unarmed combat skills, advanced use of long sticks, round shields, tactical batons, T-shaped batons, handcuffs, basic rifle tactics and crowd control.
They were trained by the Chinese Police Liaison Team (CPLT) at Rove Police Headquarters.
All the training was “relevant and practical” aimed at increasing the capability of RSIPF officers to respond to different kinds of emergencies, a statement said amid controversy over a leak of a security pact between China and Solomon Islands.
At the end of the training last Friday, the instructors from CPLT and RSIPF assessed all 14 officers.
A second POM training course will be conducted for Central Response Unit (CRU) and Provincial Response Unit (PRU) officers from May 2-15.
Deputy Commissioner (National Security and Operation Support) Ian Vaevaso said he was “extremely happy” that the RSIPF was receiving such policing capacity development training.
This would help boost the capability of police officers to handle various situations during public disorder, he said.
Deputy Commissioner Vaevaso thanked the Chinese instructors for the commitment and dedication in making making the first training a success.
Kaniva News collaborate with Asia Pacific Reports.
China pact leaked by ‘lunatics’ and ‘agents of foreign regimes’ RNZ Pacific reports that Solomon Islands Prime Minister Mannasseh Sogavare says the leak of a draft security pact between Beijing and Honiara was done by “lunatics and agents of foreign regimes” with “no regard for secrecy”.
The Pacific country has drawn criticism from Australia and New Zealand after a draft copy of the security agreement being brokered with China was leaked.
In a parliamentary statement today, Sogavare brushed off accusations that a new China-Solomon Islands security treaty would diminish the role of its traditional security partners in the region.
Sogavare said his country’s relationship with allies in Australia and New Zealand will “always remain important”.
There have been 15,918 new cases of Covid-19 in the community and 14 more deaths reported today.
(File image) Photo: Ministry of Health / Supplied
There are 817 people in hospital, down from 842 yesterday, with 24 people now in intensive care, down two from yesterday.
Auckland case numbers dropped from 2899 yesterday to 2691 today. The rest of today’s new community cases are in the Northland (634), Waikato (1508), Bay of Plenty (987), Lakes (438), Hawke’s Bay (892), MidCentral (851), Whanganui (399), Taranaki (649), Tairāwhiti (183), Wairarapa (152), Capital and Coast (1,054), Hutt Valley (599), Nelson Marlborough (605), Canterbury (2535), South Canterbury (293), Southern (1386) and West Coast (55) DHBs.
In today’s statement, the Ministry of Health said it was encouraging to see case numbers continuing to decline, with today’s seven day rolling average at 14,969, compared to 17,111 a week ago.
The ministry said the 14 new deaths reported today included people who have died over the past six days but were only recently notified to the ministry. The total number of deaths of people with Covid-19 is now 317.
Four of the new deaths were people from the Auckland region, four from Waikato, one from the Lakes DHB, one from the Wellington region, one from Nelson Marlborough, one from Canterbury, one from South Canterbury and one from Southern.
Five were in their 70s, six in their 80s and three were in their 90s. One was female and 13 were male.
Eleven deaths were announced by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday 29 when it reported the latest Covid cases update.
Of these people that died, six were Covid related while five tested positive but they died from other underlying health conditions, the Minister of Health Saia Piukala said.
There were 297 new community cases of Covid-19 and 3241 active cases in total in the last 24 hours.
The cumulative number of people who had recovered and recorded in the last 24 hours was 2,889.
The total number of confirmed cases since the outbreak was 6,144.
Of these 6,144 cases, 5,953 are from Tongatapu, 162 from Vava’u, and 29 from Ha’apai.
The Ministry said 98 percent of the eligible population have completed their first COVID-19 vaccine while 90 percent received their second dose. Overall, 49 percent have had a booster.
Meanwhile, more than 300 passengers are expected to arrive in Tonga tomorrow, Wednesday, March 30 from Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, and Apia.
All repatriates must spend 15 days at MIQs or approved home isolation.
The Tonga netball team is being celebrated at home after an unbeaten run in the Pacific AusSports Netball Series in Sydney.
Tonga celebrate their win in the Pacific AusSports Netball Series. Photo: Tonga Netball/Pacific AusSports
The kingdom was unranked before the week-long competition, and a new team of uncapped players had to be hastily put together following disruptions due to the volcanic eruption and Covid pandemic.
Tonga laid down a marker with a crushing 85-42 triumph over Papua New Guinea in the opening round before upset wins over World Cup regulars Fiji (68-54) and Samoa (60-56).
The 2019 Pacific Games silver medallists beat Singapore 65-53 in their final group match before defeating the Fiji Pearls 60-52 in Saturday’s grand final.
CEO of Tonga Netball, Salote Sisifa said most players had trained together for less than a week.
“The girls, the whole squad had just literally gotten together on a Wednesday and the tournament started on a Monday,” she said.
“If you picked it up on (captain) Hulita Veve’s speech at the ceremony, she mentioned, ‘I only met you guys last week and here we are with the winning trophy and gold’. They had literally just came together within a week.”
Sisifa, who has been helping with the relief effort following the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption and tsunami in January, said the team was motivated to cheer up the kingdom.
“This year alone in 2022, with everything that’s happened, it’s just been nothing but bad news one after the other for our country,” she said.
“We need something to just unite the national pride in Tongans to remind us of how resilient we are. Just some sign of hope, it was something positive for our people.”
Tongan netball fans showed up to support their team in Sydney. Photo: Tonga Netball/Pacific AusSports
Tonga’s Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni publicly commended the team for cheering the kingdom up, while Queen Nanasipau’u also conveyed her “heartfelt congratulations” to the team for their performances.
A man accused of fatally shooting Peter Rasmussen, 75, in Ōtāhuhu, can finally be named as Lasalosi Vaitohi.
Vaitohi, 30, was one of three men charged with murder following an alleged prison-ordered “hit gone wrong”, which left Rasmussen dead in his own home.
Vaitohi lost his battle for name suppression at the High Court in Auckland.
Vaitohi, along with an 18-year-old and 22-year-old who cannot be named, were charged with murder four months after the murder.
“Meanwhile prison inmate Amit Singh, 31, has been charged with conspiring with Vaitohi to injure a woman, a week prior to Rasmussen’s death”, reported Radio ZB.
Lasalo Vaitohi. Photo/NZ Police
Rasmussen died in his home of many years on Princes St East, just days before his birthday.
He was a stalwart of the Ōtāhuhu Rovers Rugby League Football Club for about 60 years, where he was a coach, “old boy” and life member.
“Everyone looked up to him and waited for his comments after a game of course, which were always straight to the point,” club president Wallace Dumper said at the time of his death.
“What the hell happened?”
A four-week trial has been set down for August 2023.
In 2015 Police issued a warrant to arrest Vaitohi for Breach of Parole. It said Vaitohi also sought for a serious assault.
Michael Plank from the University of Canterbury and Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa expected this death rate to continue for a few more weeks, and ultimately between 300 and 500 people to die by the end of the first Omicron wave.
“Because although it looks like cases have peaked, deaths [lag behind],” Plank said.
The death total was at about the lower to middle end of projections from earlier this year – which picked between 400 and 1200 deaths, he said.
A reason for New Zealand’s low death rate high booster uptake among older people and young people comprising a large amount of those infected.
But Plank said there still could be new Covid-19 variants or second waves which could affect the numbers.
If the virus took hold in communities with low booster rates, for example Māori, or high risk populations such as those in aged care facilities, that could cause the rate to increase again, he said.
Overall, there have been fewer deaths than usual in New Zealand since the pandemic started because lockdowns basically eliminated influenza.
But with borders opening soon bringing in travellers with infectious diseases, and winter coming, there are still difficult times to come.
University of Otago epidemiologist professor Michael Baker said it was likely to be a bad influenza season, and it was crucial people get the flu jab.
Big picture, NZ has done well in Covid-19 response – Baker
Baker said it was prudent that older people and those in poor health thought about cutting back on socialising for a few weeks while the Omicron outbreak ran its course.
While nationwide case numbers appeared to have peaked, many in the community were infected with the virus, he said.
But the big picture was that New Zealand’s Covid-19 response had been effective, with the death toll among the lowest in the world, Baker said.
There were five times the number of deaths in Australia and Singapore, which also implemented strong measures to combat the spread of the virus.
Baker said the death toll was 20 times higher in Hong Kong, Denmark and Canada and 50 times higher in the UK.
Police have seized more than $7 million in assets in relation to New Zealand’s largest meth bust, when 613kg of the drug was seized at Auckland Airport this month.
A Lamboghini Huracan restrained by police as part of the country’s largest drug bust. Photo: NZ Police / Supplied
The restrained assets include four properties – in Karaka, Papakura and Henderson in Auckland; and Pukehina in Bay of Plenty – five vehicles including a Lamborghini Huracan and a Ferrari, and a bank account with more than $1m.
Detective Inspector Lloyd Schmid said they belonged to the alleged lead offender in the drug syndicate – a 36-year-old a patched Mongrel Mob gang member.
The individual is due to appear in Manukau District Court in early May on conspiracy to import and money laundering charges.
“This is a significant seizure of millions of dollars’ worth of property, allegedly gained from the proceeds of crime,” Schmid said.
Photo: NZ Police / Supplied
“These criminal syndicates are motivated by financial greed and prey on those who are most vulnerable, with no regard for the destruction and social harm that methamphetamine causes in our communities … we will continue to target criminals who gain wealth through the sale of illegal drugs and strip them of their illegally obtained assets.”
More than six arrests were made after more than half a tonne of methamphetamine, worth more than $245m, was seized on 2 March.
Police at the time said some of those arrested in the operation, dubbed Weirton, had links to the Comancheros motorcycle gang.
His Majesty’s Armed Force Brigadier Lord Fielakepa who is also the Acting Police Commissioner. Photo/Screenshot (Broadcom Broadcasting)
Tongan Police are investigating a leak of information to the media.
Acting Commissioner of Police, Brigadier Lord Fielakepa said information contained in a recent media report concerned an operation in 2019.
“It is clear that the information in the article, though taken out of context, would have been sourced from a police officer,” Brigadier Fielakepa said.
“A breach of operations security is a serious matter and I have authorised investigation into this leak of information and to establish the motive behind it.
“Operations security in all police operations is necessary to safeguard police officers and the integrity of the operations. A breach of operations security not only places police operations at risk of failure, but it endangers the lives of police officers involved.”
The Brigadier said a media article questioned the integrity and conduct of two senior Police officers in relation to an operation conducted in 2019.
The article alleged that a diary, an unlicenced rifle and ammunition were seized and two suspects were arrested during this operation. The suspects arrested were related to Acting Deputy Commissioner Ashley Fua. It was also alleged that food and drink were donated to the Police by the family of those who were arrested.
The article claimed that Acting Deputy Commissioner (A/DC) Halatoa Taufa who leads the Drugs Enforcement Taskforce (DET) returned the diary to a family member of the owner, disregarding likely information and evidence of drug dealing.
Brigadier Fielakepa said an internal investigation submitted to the Commissioner of Police reported that the diary seized by a member of the taskforce was not registered as part of the evidence seized in the operation. The DET member disregarded the procedures for seized property during a police search.
A/DC Taufa gave the leader of the operation time to go through the diary to see if any information could be taken from it.
A/DC Taufa also checked the diary to see if it contained any relevant information, but there was none. The diary was then returned to the owner.
Former Police Commissioner Stephen Caldwell directed that a Last Warning be issued to the DET member who took the diary and failed to follow proper procedures. The Commissioner also directed that all food and drinks donated to Tonga Police be given to victims of domestic violence.
Brigadier Fielakepa said Tongan police were subject to the law and must follow the Police Code of Conduct. The conduct of A/DC Halatoa Taufa is commendable and maintained the credibility of the Tonga Police, he said.
“The foundation for Tonga Police services is the trust given to the Tonga Police by the community and the people of Tonga,” he said.
“Tonga Police values and protects public trust through maintaining clear guidelines for Police conduct and operations. These guidelines help to ensure appropriate level of accountability is maintained by individual police officers and the Tonga Police as an organisation.”
Explainer – There’s a new Covid-19 variant making headlines around the world – Deltacron. Whatever you may think about that name, it’s exactly what it sounds like – a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants.
So how did this happen, where did it come from and should we be worried? RNZ is here to clear it all up.
That’s when two related viruses infect the same individual and the same cell during a co-infection, she says.
“That person is unlucky enough to be infected by two different variants of the same virus and the virus replication machinery kind of accidentally switches from one genome to the other, resulting in a mixed genome, so that’s called viral recombination. “
It’s worth noting that there are different versions of Deltacron – Geoghegan says it’s actually somewhat unhelpful to use the name Deltacron because of this.
One version that’s been detected is a combination of Delta and BA-1. There’s also one that is a combination of Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.2.
Earlier in March, World Health Organisation Covid-19 technical lead and infectious disease epidemiologist Dr Maria Van Kerkhove said the WHO was aware of Deltacron but the levels of detection are low.
“The recombinant itself, this is something that is expected given the intense amount of circulation that we saw with both Omicron and Delta and given the sheer number of changes and mutation within Omicron, it was much easier for … people who are studying the genome to be able to detect these recombinants…
“Unfortunately, we do expect to see recombinants because this is what viruses do, they change over time.
When did this variant pop up?
Various reports have pointed to Gisaid, a virus information sharing initiative, as noting the “first solid evidence for a Delta-Omicron recombinant virus” showed the recombinant was identified in several regions of France and “has been circulating since early January 2022”.
“Genomes with a similar profile have been also identified in Denmark and The Netherlands. Further investigations are needed to determine if these recombinants derive from a single common ancestor or could result from multiple similar recombination events.”
Writing for The Conversation, Trinity College Dublin biochemistry Professor Luke O’Neill said “Deltacron’s story begins in mid-February, when scientists at the Institut Pasteur in Paris uploaded a genetic sequence of the coronavirus that looked very different from previous sequences. The virus sample had come from an elderly man in northern France and looked odd.
“Most of its genetic sequence was the same as Delta’s, which was dominant worldwide up until late last year, but the part of the sequence that encodes the virus’s spike protein – a key part of its external structure, which it uses to get inside cells in the body – came from Omicron.”
What are the chances of this happening?
Geoghegan says viral recombination is an important way for viruses to generate genetic variation.
“This coronavirus has been doing it all the way through this pandemic. However, it’s only recently become easier to spot since viruses that are circulating now are becoming more genetically distinct from one another.
“For example, we now have Delta, but we also have BA.1 and BA.2 which are variations of Omicron. And they’re all circulating, causing infections. So when recombinants occur between these lineages, it’s possible to identify, even if that switched part of the genome is quite small.
“Another reason why we’re seeing a lot of it now is because when BA.1 took off, at least [when] it spread across Europe really rapidly as well as the US, there was really high levels of Delta already there, and so there’s so many opportunities for these people to get co-infected and then recombine and transmit onwards.”https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6301433365001
How worried should people be?
We said before there were different version of Deltacron – the one people might be more concerned about has been given the name XD, Geoghegan says.
“It’s basically a name for Delta and BA.1. It was first detected in France, and it contains a spike protein of BA.1 and the rest of the genome of Delta.
“It’s been now found in Germany, in the Netherlands and Denmark. And because it contains the structural proteins of Delta, if any of these different recombinants were to act much differently, it could be this one, but generally viral recombinants like these should be closely monitored for signs that they might be increasing in frequency, so we can kind of understand if these recombinants induce changes to the virus’ transmissibility or disease severity or in fact immunity.”
That said, it’s not clear if we need to be worried yet, she says.
Van Kerkhove said the WHO has “not seen any change in the epidemiology with this recombinant. We haven’t seen any change in severity but there are many studies that are underway”.
“It is also the main target of antibodies produced through infections and vaccines. So the defenses that people have acquired against Omicron – through infections, vaccines or both – should work just as well against the new recombinant,” the Times reports.
“Scientists suspect that Omicron’s distinctive spike is also partly responsible for its lower odds of causing severe disease. The variant uses it to successfully invade cells in the nose and the upper airway, but it doesn’t do so well deep in the lungs. The new recombinant may display the same penchant.”
Van Kerkhove also says in a WHO broadcast “we could have variants that emerge that have properties that are quite concerning, but if it doesn’t circulate, then it doesn’t become a public health threat”.
It’s worth noting that the recombinant is quite rare so far.
Writing for The Conversation, O’Neill said: “We can, though, be somewhat confident that prior infection with other variants, as well as vaccination, will offer protection from severe disease should Deltacron begin to dominate. We know that vaccines, which are based on the original Wuhan strain of the virus, also protect against severe disease with the more recent variants.
“Time will tell whether Delta and Omicron have produced a wild child for us to worry about.”
Is this Delta-Omicron mashup in New Zealand yet?
Geoghegan says it hasn’t been detected here yet and while it has been found in parts of the United Kingdom and Europe, it’s relatively rare.
“However, we need to closely monitor these and we need to continue our genomic surveillance to then be able to identify this if it occurs in New Zealand.”
Genomic surveillance will help us identify if it is worth concern – and find any other variants that crop up, she says.
“I think for the foreseeable future, we can expect new variants, if not recombinants, to emerge. And that’s basically evolution. It’s happening in real time in front of our eyes, which is daunting but quite fascinating.”
Van Kerkhove says “it’s really critical that we have testing and it’s really critical that we continue with sequencing, that we have good geographic representation of sequencing around the world and that the systems that have been put in place for surveillance, for testing, for sequencing, right now be reinforced”.
The kingdom’s largest prison is clear of active COVID-19 cases Thursday after 256 inmates and staff recovered, the Prison boss reported.
Hu’atolitoli prison
The clearing of cases occurred about a month after the first inmate case was reported in February at the Hu’atolitoli jail. At its peak early this month, 260 active inmate and employee cases were reported.
Tomorrow, Friday 25, it is expected 256 people were released from MIQs leaving only four patients to complete their 14-day isolation period, the Prison Chief Executive Sēmisi Tapueluelu told FM 87.5 Broadcom this morning.
Tapueluelu said he was glad that the prison was “cleared”.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Health reported yesterday Wednesday 23 nine people as having died with Covid.
Hon Saia Piukala said three people died of Covid related causes while six died after being tested positive but they had underlying health conditions.
There were 390 new cases of Covid yesterday in Tonga, the Minister told a virtual press conference.
There were 4174 confirmed cumulative cases including 4065 in Tongatapu and 108 in Vava’u.
There was a total of 1545 recovered cases. Vava’u had 42 people recovered, nine in MIQs and 57 had been in self isolation.
There were 2620 active cases yesterday in Tonga.
There were 126 stranded Ha’apai residents repatriated this week from Tongatapu and 29 of them had tested positive. They are in MIQs in Ha’apai.
There were 119 international returnees released from MIQs yesterday leaving only 16 people required to have further isolation, the Minister said.
The large proportion of recent positive cases which is 1812 are between the ages of 20 and 39. Three children under one month old, 51 under one year old had tested positive but they had been recovered.
The Minister said 86 cases of Covid had been at the age of 70s and over.
