Former Wallabies international Lopeti Timani is among three new caps in the Tonga rugby team named to play England at Twickenham this weekend.
Lopeti Timani will make his ‘Ikale Tahi debut against England. Photo: Supplied/Tonga Rugby Union
The Toulon forward, who last played for Australia in 2017, will make his debut for the ‘Ikale Tahi on the blindside flank.
Former New Zealand and Tonga rugby league international Solomone Kata has been named to start on the left wing, while Perpignan midfielder Afusipa Taumoepeau gets the nod at second five eighth.
Timani and Taumoepeau – a former Australian sevens international – both qualified to represent the ‘Ikale Tahi after playing for the kingdom at the Olympic sevens repechage tournament in June.
Head Coach Toutai Kefu said he opted for an experienced team to complement the three newcomers.
“This is another important step on our voyage to the Rugby World Cup 2023,” he said.
“After a solid showing against England at the RWC in 2019, the whole squad is excited to play England in Twickenham.”
Tonga have made eight changes in all to their starting fifteen from the side thrashed 60-14 by Scotland last weekend.
Veteran props Sigfried Fisi’ihoi and Ben Tameifuna come into the front row, with Mateaki Kafatolu and Sione Vailanu joining Timani in an all-new backrow.
Meanwhile, Telusa Veainu starts at fullback in his first test since the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
There’s also a couple of positional changes, with Tanginoa Halaifonua moving from blindside flanker to lock and Walter Fifita swapping from the right wing to the left, while Ma’afu Fia, Leon Fukofuka and Viliami Fine come onto the bench.
England captain Owen Farrell will start at first five against the ‘Ikale Tahi in his 100th test appearance, including 94 for his country and six tests for the British and Irish Lions.
He kicked 15 points in England’s 35-3 win over Tonga at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Sigfried Fisi’ihoi, Ben Tameifuna, Leva Fifita, Sonatane Takulua and Kurt Morath also started that day in Sapporo, while Siua Maile, Ma’afu Fia, Leon Fukofuka and James Faiva were among the reserves.
Over the weekend, the Labour Party is holding its first conference since its landslide win in the 2020 election.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will make a speech in the afternoon before holding a media conference. (File image) Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The virtual event’s main focus is a vote on changing the way the party elects the leader who will replace Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Labour’s governing body, the New Zealand Council, has proposed a new leader be elected by caucus, if more than two-thirds of MPs vote for that person within a week of the job coming up.
If voted in, the proposal would mean the next Labour leader could be elected by the party’s caucus alone, rather than a combination of the caucus, Labour members, and unions.
The entire Labour caucus. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Under the current electoral college system, the party’s caucus and members each account for 40 percent of the total vote while affiliates, mainly unions, make up the remaining 20 percent.
It was voted into the party’s constitution in 2012 by Labour delegates, replacing a voting regime where Labour’s caucus alone elected its leader.
Ardern will make a speech in the afternoon before holding a media conference, where it is expected she will announce the voting results on the proposal.
Pfizer announced on Friday that its pill to treat Covid-19 had been found in a key clinical trial to be highly effective at preventing severe illness among at-risk people who received the drug soon after they exhibited symptoms.
Pfizer plans to submit interim trial results for its pill to the US Food and Drug Administration
The antiviral pill is the second of its kind to demonstrate efficacy against Covid. It appears to be more effective than a similar offering from Merck, which is awaiting federal authorization.
Pfizer’s pill, which will be sold under the brand name Paxlovid, cut the risk of hospitalization or death by 89 percent when given within three days after the start of symptoms.
Pfizer said an independent board of experts monitoring its clinical trial recommended that the study be stopped early because the drug’s benefit to patients had proved so convincing. The company said it planned to submit the data as soon as possible to the Food and Drug Administration to seek authorization for the pill to be used in the United States.
“The results are really beyond our wildest dreams,” said Annaliesa Anderson, a Pfizer executive who led the drug’s development. She expressed hope that Paxlovid “can have a big impact on helping all our lives go back to normal again and seeing the end of the pandemic.”
The treatment could become available in the next few months, though supplies are likely to be limited at first. The Pfizer and Merck pills are both geared toward patients regarded as high-risk, such as those above the age of 60 or with conditions like obesity that make them more susceptible to severe consequences from Covid.
The arrival of a new class of easy-to-use pills that dramatically reduce hospitalizations could help bring the curtain down on the most severe phase of the pandemic, at least in wealthy countries where most adults have been vaccinated.
Pfizer and Merck have said that they have already begun producing pills and plan to ramp up production over the next year.
The U.S. government has been in negotiations with Pfizer for enough pills for 1.7 million courses of treatment, with an additional option for 3.3 million, according to a senior administration official. That is about the same quantity that the United States has ordered from Merck. The government expects to pay about $700 per treatment course for both drugs, the official said.
A number of wealthy countries, including Britain and Australia, have also raced to lock up supplies of Pfizer’s drug.
Pfizer said it planned to offer poorer countries the drug at discounted prices. The company has been in talks with a United Nations-backed nonprofit, the Medicines Patent Pool, to allow the pill to be made and sold inexpensively in such countries; Merck has already reached a similar deal.
The Pfizer and Merck pills, which can be dispensed at pharmacies and taken at home, are expected to reach many more people than monoclonal antibody treatments, which are typically given by intravenous infusion at a clinic.
The treatment consists of 30 pills given over five days. That includes 10 pills of ritonavir, an old H.I.V. drug, which helps Pfizer’s drug remain active in the body longer. (Merck’s treatment course is 40 pills over five days.)
The pills so far have mainly been tested in high-risk patients. But Pfizer is also running trials on low-risk patients and people in the same household as those infected with the virus.
The efficacy results announced on Tuesday included data from more than 1,200 adults in the United States and overseas who received either Pfizer’s drug or a placebo pill after contracting Covid. The volunteers were enrolled between July and September, when the Delta variant was ripping across the globe. They were unvaccinated and had at least one characteristic that put them at greater risk of becoming severely ill from the virus, such as older age or having obesity or diabetes.
Pfizer’s 89 percent efficacy figure came from the group of volunteers who started treatment within three days of developing symptoms. Including people who began treatment on the fourth or fifth day, the pill reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 85 percent.
By contrast, the Merck pill was about 50 percent effective when given within five days of the onset of symptoms, though the different designs and timing of the Pfizer and Merck trials make such comparisons imprecise. Monoclonal antibody treatments reduce hospitalizations and deaths by at least 70 percent in high-risk Covid patients, but those treatments are more expensive and more cumbersome to administer.
Study volunteers who got the Pfizer pill reported mostly mild side effects at a slightly lower rate than those who received the placebo pill. That was a promising sign for the drug’s safety, indicating that Covid symptoms are probably more bothersome than any of the pill’s side effects.
The origins of Pfizer’s pill stretch back 19 years, to the SARS epidemic. Early last year, Pfizer began modifying the drug’s design so that it could be used to fight Covid and taken as a pill rather than intravenously.
Pfizer’s drug is in the class of so-called protease inhibitors that are commonly used to treat H.I.V. and hepatitis C. The drug is designed to stop the coronavirus from replicating by blocking the activity of a key enzyme that the coronavirus uses to replicate inside cells.
Pfizer also said that its studies showed that the drug was safe and did not cause worrisome mutations. Some scientists have raised that concern about Merck’s pill, which works by inserting errors into the virus’s genetic code to stop it from replicating. Pfizer’s pill doesn’t do that.
Britain, which on Thursday became the first government to authorize Merck’s pill, recommended that it not be used in women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or who could become pregnant during the period.
Carl Zimmer and Stephanie Nolen contributed reporting.
The Ministry of Health says the death of a 40-year-old man, who had Covid-19 and was isolating at home, was not vaccine related.
The ministry said there had been speculation the death was vaccine related but they could confirm it was not.
The man’s death has been referred to the Coroner who will determine whether it was Covid-19 related, the ministry said.
“The Northern Region Health Coordination Centre and the ministry will undertake an incident review of the public health and clinical oversight of this person with independent input.”
The ministry said it was unable to comment on the specifics as a coronial investigation was underway.
“Following a positive test, a public health assessment is undertaken on a case to determine whether they should isolate at home or at an MIQ facility.
“The ministry’s condolences are with this person’s whānau at this sad time.”
Tonga’s only suspected patient has tested positive when he took his third test today in Nuku’alofa.
The latest result came after the person was tested positive last week and tested negative on Monday this week.
The Health Ministry chief executive Siale ‘Akau’ola said today the person had recorded a very weak positive result which likely reflects a historical infection.
He described the second positive result as “weaker than the first weak positive result”.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said the result showed what appeared to be a fragment of dead virus from old infections.
He said the Ministry discussed the result with a team from World Health Organisation (WHO) this morning.
He said there is a lot of “technicalities in the case”.
“We believe the person is not infectious”, he said.
Dr ‘Akau’ola said the result meant there was no need to panic.
“It is not a new virus and the Ministry is highly confident about it.
“The virus is shedding”.
He said the machines Tonga was using for the tests “are very sensitive”.
“Whenever they detected a fragment of a virus they will show it as positive”.
Dr ‘Akau’ola was speaking during a press conference this afternoon attended by the Prime Minister and a team of government officials.
The patient has been transferred to a special quarantine facility in Mu’a after he arrived at the kingdom from Christchurch last Wednesday on a flight carrying 215 people.
They had four contacts in New Zealand – all of whom returned negative tests.
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.
