A severe weather warning has been issued for Tongatapu, Ha’apai, Vava’u and ‘Eua, with strong southeasterly winds.
Met Service said a fresh to strong East to Southeasterly wind-flow prevails over the Group.
“A strong wind warning remains in force for Vava’u, Ha’apai, Tongatapu and ‘Eua land areas,” it said.
A strong wind warning and small craft advisory remain in force for all of Tonga coastal waters with East to Southeasterly winds 15-20 knots, rising up to 25 knots at times.
Moderate seas (up to 2.5 meters).
For the Niuas, there are moderate to fresh East to Southeast winds.
“Mainly fine apart from cloudy periods with showers”.
A report by Relief Web last year said the Tropical Cyclone (TC) activity expected in the 2020/21 Tropical Cyclone Season to affect Tonga is likely to be around one to two cyclones on average.
It said any tropical cyclones passing close to the country, associated active cloud and rain bands may occasionally affect Tonga with marked rainfall and possible flooding, including sea flooding of low‐lying coastal areas.
Tonga’s tropical cyclone season normally starts on November until March.
Health authorities are still trying to determine the risk to Christchurch of two new community cases of Covid-19 there, and a snap lockdown is not being ruled out.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins is expecting to receive a public health risk assessment on the cases later this morning, which will allow a quick decision about a potential lockdown, possibly at today’s 1pm briefing.
The two cases are from the same household, are not vaccinated, and their use of the Covid-19 Tracer app has been low.
They have been in Christchurch for up to a week after one travelled back from Auckland. They had a negative test result prior to that travel as required but later tested positive.
At this stage, there are no other known household contacts for the pair.
Hipkins told Morning Report “The nature of their contacts in Christchurch will be established during the morning and then we’ll have a bit more information to share, but you know, these cases came in quite late last night.
“My understanding is that they’ve been unwell for a while so they could have been symptomatic and infectious for a period of time whilst back in Christchurch and so that’s one of the things that the contact tracers will be working on as a as a top priority this morning – to identify exactly what the nature of the potential exposure in Christchurch is.”
It was not yet clear how many locations of interest there might be.
“As of last night that identified one other household so far that the person had had contact with … but we’ll know more within the next few hours, hopefully.”
The impact of their low use of the Covid Tracer app “ultimately would depend on exactly how much they’ve been out in the community, you know if they’ve been unwell, they may well have been staying at home for much of that period of time.
“If they have had a significant amount of movement within the community, and then the fact that they haven’t kept records does make that more challenging because human nature is everybody will forget things.”
The pair seemed to be co-operating with authorities so far, he said.
There was not enough information available yet to make a call on a snap lockdown, Hipkins said.
“We will know by later in the morning this morning what we’re dealing with in Christchurch. At this point we’re still just waiting to get more information there… I’m expecting to receive the public health risk assessment on these particular cases later on this morning, and that will allow us to make it speedy decision about anything any follow up that’s required in Christchurch.
“I couldn’t make a judgement at this point as to what follow up will will be required.”
According to Canterbury DHB figures, 89 percent of people in the region have received their first dose and 68 percent are fully vaccinated.
Hipkins said that was good.
“Once you get up to those sorts of rates, that does start to have an impact on the spread of the virus.”
But the cases illustrated why there were still restrictions in the South Island, he said.
Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel said the two Delta cases were the wake-up call her city was dreading and hoped a snap lockdown would not be needed.
Dalziel told Morning Report it was disappointing the pair were not scanning QR codes and were unvaccinated.
Seeing the damage one case caused in Auckland, people needed to be extremely vigilant, she said.
She wanted tougher border requirements for people leaving locked down regions.
Christchurch-based National Party MP Gerry Brownlee backed a move to a lockdown – if it was the only way to contain a widespread outbreak.
“What we’ve got now is the reality of possibly greater restriction that we’ve enjoyed for a long time and I hope that the Ministry (of Health) in their consideration is sensible, and that the people of Christchurch … continue to use the QR codes, wear masks and where appropriate, (socially) distance,” he told Morning Report.
However, before a lockdown decision was made he would want more information about the movements of the pair.
“I think you’ve gotta be pretty sensible about whether you decide that the whole province or the whole city needs to lock itself down – or just rely on the fact that we have increasing vaccination rates… I just really hope that there is a sensible analysis of what the risks are.”
Gerry Brownlee. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Epidemiologist professor Michael Baker said the new Christchurch cases were expected but nonetheless concerning.
“Some people felt there was some inevitability about this virus in this outbreak, spreading all around the country, including the South Island.
“We’ve already seen how easy it is for a case to a travel from the North Island to Blenheim recently, so this is probably expected but obviously quite a shock.
“If there’s only one case in one household member, contact tracing should work very well. The bigger issue is how many other cases are incubating in the South Island given we have very few controls on infected people getting on flights at the moment.
“One of the problems, of course, is that a high proportion of people will be asymptomatic or have only a few symptoms, the occasional person will also be vaccinated now, so it is quite tough to pick up all of these outbreaks very early, so it’s just critical for people to come forward if they’ve got any symptoms at all.
“I think if the outbreak is well defined – so it’s just the person who’s travelled to Christchurch and their household members – that should be very manageable with contact tracing and the usual methods.
“I think there wouldn’t be a need to raise alert levels in Christchurch if the contact tracing puts a really good boundary around it.
“The risk assessment they’re doing now will be very thorough I’m sure, and that will give us an idea for this case. I think the wider question is how many other cases now are incubating the South Island.”
There were “a whole lot of precautions” that could be used to keep the virus out of the South Island, Baker said.
“The first thing is limiting numbers of people travelling to the South Island from infected areas to just essential workers, for example.
“The other thing is at least some basic screening before people go on flights particularly whether they’ve come from an area that’s under level 3 restrictions where there is considerable transmission and potentially there should be a requirement for pre-travel testing, I think increasingly there should be a requirement for vaccination.”
By Amy Williams of RNZ.co.nz. Republished with permission.
A group of principals will meet online with government officials today to discuss what needs to happen for primary schools to reopen in Auckland next month.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said primary and intermediate schools and kura could reopen on 15 November, depending on Covid-19 case numbers.
That’s just 12 home-school days away, and Auckland Primary Principals’ Association and Pt Chevalier School principal Stephen Lethbridge said there was a lot of preparation to do.
“We have to make sure that we’ve got plans and processes in place that ensure a safe return. We can make it happen, it is doable, we just need to make sure that we get a good plan together.”
He said measures organised by schools could include staggered start times or alternate attendance days for different age groups.
“We’ve got a team of 15 to 20 school leaders from around the region who are going to be working closely with the ministry over the next couple of days to try and iron out some of these issues and see a way forward about how we can make it the best return for all the schools in the region.”
Hipkins said primary and intermediate schools will reopen with educators tested and masked, and the possibility of outdoor learning and alternate attendance days.
Developmental paediatrician Dr Jin Russell said these factors would help ensure schools were safe.
“The staged return will mean that there won’t be as much crowding, it will hopefully be easier to keep children in bubbles and Chris Hipkins also foreshadowed that they may take learning outside as much as possible,” she said.
“These are all recommendations that have been made as part of reopening schools safely so I was pleased to see them.”
Dr Russell said it was understandable if parents felt anxious but the precautions will reduce the chance of catching Covid-19 at school.
“All of these layers together really add up to drive down the risk of transmission within schools. I know it’s not possible to say that there’s zero risk but doing all these things together will really drive down that risk of transmission.”
She said vaccinating eligible family members was the best defence against Covid-19 and school communities could help to reach vaccine stragglers.
Lethbridge said teachers were keen to see their students in person again when it was safe to do so.
“Teachers will be really looking forward to reconnecting with kids and seeing them face-to-face.
“My advice to parents will be sit tight, stick with us, we’re all in this together and we will get to a solution that will get everyone back as soon as possible.”
Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet Edgar Cocker claims a photo showing apparently being restrained after an altercation actually shows him praying.
Chief Secretary is seen kneeling on the floor what some bystanders restrain the Prince.
Photos of the incident have gone viral, but yesterday Cocker told Kaniva News he had been praying and was asking the Prince to kneel down so they could pray together.
Cocker’s version of events appears to contradict the evidence of the video and reports by witnesses on news and social media.
In the video from which the photos were taken, he is seen apparently trying to rise from the floor while Prince Tu’ipelehake is restrained by some bystanders.
Witnesses told Tongan media the young prince “pushed Edgar away” after he had made abusive remarks to girls who were in his company at the Naughty Ruby Night Club.
Kaniva News asked Cocker to assure us he was telling the truth about what happened.
All he said in response was “Malo” (thanks).
Other media have previously been unable to contact him about the incident.
The prince could not be contacted for his side of the story.
As previous media reports have pointed out, irrespective of the details of what happened, many people clearly regard Cocker – one of the closest administrators to the Prime Minister and a senior CEO looked up to by other Government leaders – as having been brought into disrepute.
Members of the public expressed their concerns at what they called an unacceptable behaviour by some of the country’s leaders.
“They let down the government,” a commenter wrote on Facebook.
Cocker has been a controversial figure, particularly during the saga of the government-owned Lulutai airline.
Cocker publicly supported statements by the Prime Minister regarding the appointment and sacking of the airline’s CEO, which were later called into question by documentary evidence.
When asked by Kaniva News whether former Lulutai CEO Maikolo Faasolo had held the position, Cocker aid no. When e-mailed the copy of the contract which showed Fa’asolo was indeed the CEO of Lulutai before he was forced to resign, Cocker said nothing.
An expert panel on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to recommend the US Food and Drug Administration authorise the Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, saying the benefits of inoculation outweigh the risks.
An authorisation for that age group would be would be an important regulatory step toward reaching about 28 million children for inoculation, most of them back in school for in-person learning.
The vaccine could be available to the younger age group as soon as next week. The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its outside experts, but usually does.
If the FDA authorizes the shots for this age group, an advisory panel to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention will meet next week to make a recommendation on the administration of the vaccine. The CDC director will make the final call.
The companies have said their vaccine showed 90.7 percent efficacy against the coronavirus in a clinical trial of children aged 5 to 11.
While children becoming seriously ill or dying from Covid-19 is relatively rare compared with adults, some develop complications, and infections in unvaccinated kids have risen due to the easily transmitted Delta variant of the coronavirus.
“To me, the question is pretty clear,” said Dr. Amanda Cohn, a paediatric vaccine expert at the CDC and a voting member of the panel. “We don’t want children to be dying of Covid, even if it is far fewer children than adults, and we don’t want them in the ICU.”
Pfizer and BioNTech are seeking clearance for a lower, 10-microgram dose of the vaccine in children, versus 30 micrograms for those age 12 and older. The shot has been authorized for ages 12-15 since May after being cleared for those age 16 and older in December.
The advisers paid close attention to the rate of a heart inflammation called myocarditis that have been linked to both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, particularly in young men.
If the number of myocarditis cases in the younger age group turns out to be similar to that in 12- to 15-year-olds, the hospitalisations prevented for Covid-19 would outnumber those prevented for myocarditis in most scenarios analysed, FDA staff reviewers said in documents prepared ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Tongan lawyers, including senior legal figures Sifa Tū’utafaiva, William Clive Edwards Snr and New Zealand based Tongan lawyer Nalesoni Tupou have called on the king to revoke the appointment of lawyer and Privy Council’s Lord Chancellor Tavake Afeaki as Acting Lord Chief Justice.
King Tupou VI Photo/File photo
The appointment has been made to fill the gap left by Lord Chief Justice Michael Whitten’s absence on holiday in Australia.
The lawyers said they wanted Lord Afeaki’s appointment as Acting Lord Chief Justice revoked and the traditional process of appointing the Senior Justice from the Supreme Court as the acting Lord Chief Justice be maintained, according to a copy of the petition. seen by Kaniva News.
The Senior Justice in the Supreme Court is Hon Justice Niu who the petitioners said had demonstrated competency, fairness and loyalty to the application of the rule of law and justice.
Kaniva News understands the lawyers are concerned about whether Lord Afeaki has sufficient legal experience to hold such an important position. Their petition to the king also raised serious concerns about the role of Lord Dalgety in the process.
Tavake Barron Afeaki
“The appointment of the Acting Lord Chief Justice Afeaki has been made on the advice and recommendation of the Judicial Panel,” the petition said.
“The Panel consists of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Chief Justice and the Law Lords.
“Lord Afeaki is the Chairperson of the Panel who has, through the assistance, support and promotion by Lord Dalgety, elevated himself to the position of Acting Lord Chief Justice.
“The appointment is tainted with cronyism, personal interest and self-promotion within the Panel. There is a conflict of interest with the Chairperson appointing himself to the position of Acting Lord Chief Justice.
“The Panel is established to consider suitably qualified and appropriate candidates for judicial office and is not established for the promotion of its members to the Judiciary. The decision is not transparent and is wrong.
Lord Dalgety of Sikotilani
“We are dissatisfied with the interference and influence that Lord Dalgety purports to exercise in the appointment of the Acting Lord Chief Justice.”
In an e-mail seen by Kaniva News, Edwards said members of the Law Society were concerned with the principle and the manner in which Afeaki had been appointed as Acting Lord Chief Justice.
“We do not believe that the Panel should promote their own Chairman as the Acting Lord Chief Justice,” Edwards said.
“That appointment raises a number of issues. The Panel is there to consider and recommend suitable candidate, but not to consider themselves first and to promote themselves to high judicial offices in Tonga.”
The submission has again brought to light the problems which were found in a review that the current system is unworkable and incompatible with the principles of constitutional monarchy and democracy.
The king’s Judicial Appointments and Discipline Panel of which Afeaki was the Chairman, makes recommendations about judicial appointments to His Majesty. This system has been heavily criticised as undemocratic. Now there seems to be also a conflict of interest surrounding this and it opens another opportunity for critics to attack the system, which the Pursglove review in 2014 described as the poorest among the Commonwealth countries.
Kaniva News has contacted Lord Dalgety and asked him to comment on the petition. We are awaiting a response.
FAKAMATALA FAKATONGA
Kuo tohi e kau loea ki he tu’i ke fakafoki hono fokotu’u ‘o Loea Tavake Afeaki ki he lakanga ‘Eiki Fakamaau Lahi Le’ole’o’ he oku fepaki heni ‘a e fiema’u he’ene toe fokotu’u pe ‘e ia ia ki he lakanga mahu’inga taha eni he lao ‘o e fonua’. Ko e fatongia e pēnolo’ ke kumi ha taha taukei fe’unga ki he lakanga’ ka ‘oku ‘ikai ko ‘enau toe fokotu’u pe ‘e kinautolu ‘a kinautolu, ko e lau ia ‘a e kau loea’. Nau toe hoha’a foki pe ko e ha ko ā e taukei fakalao a e tama ni ki he lakanga mahuinga ko eni. Tukuaki’i ‘a Looti Dalgety ki he’ene hūhū holo ke teke ‘a Afeaki ki he lakanga he ko kinaua ne na ‘i he kautaha vaka Shipping ‘o mole ai ‘a e MV Ashika pea ko eni ‘oku na i he Fakataha Tokoni’. Ko e taha eni e me’a ne fai ‘a e manavasi’i ki ai he oku ‘ikai taliui e penolo ia ‘a e Tu’i ki ha taha kehe pea ‘e fakatu’utāmaki fau ‘enau ma’u e fu’u mafai ke alasi e Fakamaau’anga’. Ko e palopalema eni ne tu’unga ai hono feinga’i ke fakatonutonu e konisitutone mohu palopalema ne fai’aki e liliu 2010 pea ne ‘osi lea ki heni ‘a e pule’anga ‘o Tu’ivakanoo’ pea pehe ki he pule’anga ‘o ‘Akilisi Pōhiva hili ha ha’u ‘a ha mataotao ki Tonga he 2014 ‘o vakai’i e konisitutone ko eni pea ne pehe ko e konisitutone ma’olalo taha ia he Kominiueli ‘a ‘eni ‘oku tau palopalama ai ko eni. Oku tukuaki’i foki ia ko e konisitūtone ko ‘eni ne lahi fa’u pe ia Looti Dalgety ‘o ‘ave ‘o fakapaasi i Fale Alea he pule’anga ‘aho ko ia kae tuku e konisitutone ia ne fokotu’u atu mei he kōmiti ne nau savea’i e loto e kakai’ ke fai’aki ‘a e liliu.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced vaccination will be mandated in any workplace that requires a certificate of vaccination for entry.
Watch the announcement here:
Last week the government announced details of its Covid-19 Protection Framework last week, involving the roll-out of a ‘traffic-light’ system once all DHBs hit 90 percent full vaccination rates.
Ardern told media the government wanted everyone to move towards the new system announced and urged vaccination rates to increase.
She said this was the “best way to give certainty to business and to our communities”.
“We need to ensure vaccination rates lift. So please don’t wait until cases come to your town or your city, get vaccinated now,” she added.
Under the new traffic light system, hospitality, hair dressers and gyms can operate at all levels if they ask customers for vaccine certificates.
The government had already mandated vaccinations for people working at the border, and in the health and education sectors.
“If customers must be vaccinated, then so too, must the workers,” she said.
“The timing of this coming into force will depend on when we move to the Covid-19 Protection Framework.”
Ardern said the requirement would ensure staff and customers were treated equally, and it would play a “big part in helping to minimise the spread of the virus in the highest risk venues by reducing the potential for Covid to enter the business”.
The prime minister rejected suggestions the new requirement constituted government overreach and said the move had a public health basis, which balanced the rights of workers with the rights of business clients.
What was announced
Vaccination will be required for all workers at businesses where customers need to show COVID-19 Vaccination Certificates, such as hospitality and close-contact businesses
New law to introduce a clearer and simplified risk assessment process for employers to follow when deciding whether they can require vaccination for different types of work
Non-vaccinated workers in roles requiring vaccination will be given a new four-week notice period to get vaccinated before employment can be terminated.
Employers to be required to provide paid time off for workers to get vaccinated and will need to keep records about workers’ vaccination status
Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety Michael Wood told media the move was part of a range of measures to help protect workplaces and workers from Covid-19.
A new four-week notice period will apply to mandated employees who refuse to get vaccinated if their employment is terminated.
“Our law change will require a minimum of four weeks’ paid notice for any employee who loses their job because they are not vaccinated,” he said.
“This change will only apply to employees who do not have a notice period, or whose notice periods are shorter than four weeks. Most employees will have notice periods in their employment agreement.
The new announcements were geared towards giving clarity to businesses, he said.
“A number of businesses have already gone through a risk assessment process to mandate vaccinations at their workplace, but we’ve had calls from both businesses and unions to make this process as clear as possible. That’s why we will introduce a risk assessment process in law for employers to follow when deciding whether they can require vaccination for different types of work.
“We know though that many businesses and employers who are not covered by vaccine certificates want greater clarity on whether they can mandate vaccines. This process will provide businesses with a clear and simplified legal framework to make decisions about requiring staff to be vaccinated or not.”
Employers will be required to keep records about workers’ vaccination status. Wood said MBIE would work with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to provide practical guidance on how to ensure workers’ records were handled appropriately.
Current orders in place covered 15 percent of the workforce, the minister said.
“Our estimate is that those workplaces covered by Covid vaccine certificates are potentially around about 25 percent of the workforce,” he said.
“So, that would bring it to about 40 percent in total, noting that other workplaces would still have access to the simplified risk management framework.”
Those who may lose their jobs due to the vaccine mandates would still be able to access government support, Ardern confirmed.
“Your ability to access for eg an unemployment benefit or to seek support in finding new employment is not, and will not be affected by your vaccination status,” she said.
Vaccine certificates would not be used in places like supermarkets, or to access health services.
“We do not want people who are not vaccinated to be precluded by accessing the basic necessities of life – food, health care and so on,” she said.
Retail businesses did not need vaccine certificates, but there was a process they could go through to adopt a vaccine mandate for their staff, she added.
Wood said ministers would now be looking at extending vaccine mandates over the coming weeks, which could cover government services like Winz and MSD.
He said the government would make it clear to businesses when it would be reasonable to make vaccination a condition for employment. It would depend on the degree of interaction with customers and a “small number of other criteria”.
The Prime Minister said she foresaw a time when vaccine certificates would not be required, once vaccination rates were higher.
Vaccine certificates would be piloted during November and would be ready before Auckland moved into the new framework, she said.
A shocking video shows the moment onlookers are forced to restrain what appeared to be His Serene Prince Tu’ipelehake while the Chief Secretary and Secretary to Cabinet Edgar Cocker is seen rising from the floor.
Chief Secretary is seen kneeling on the floor while some bystanders are restraining the Prince (Right).
Footage shows Cocker was standing up with the help of another man and slowly moving towards the prince who was being physically controlled by some bystanders.
Reports alleged the duo were involved in an altercation.
There were no reports of injuries.
It is believed the footage was shared online by an eyewitness.
Cocker was contacted for comment while the prince could not be reached for his side of the story.
Viewers were quick to express their concerns at what they have described as an unacceptable attitude coming from some of the top leaders of the country.
Within 10 hours since the clip was shared to Facebook it has garnered 300 shares, 90 comments and 300 reactions.
“They let down the government,” a commenter wrote on Facebook.
“That’s politics,” one wrote.
The shocking footage was uploaded to social media after the incident which is reported to have happened at one of the bars in Nuku’alofa.
Kaniva News was unable to independently confirm the authenticity of the video clip.
