PINA

COVID-19 infections have continued to rise globally for more than a month now, with over four million cases reported in the past week alone, the UN health agency said on Wednesday. In its latest update, the World Health Organisation (WHO) attributed the uptick to “substantial” caseload increases of 33 percent in the Western Pacific and 37 percent in the Eastern...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo Two athletes from Oceania were guests on the BBC World Sport broadcast in a live cross on the Tokyo 2020 Games Wednesday morning. Jonah Harris (Nauru) and Karalo Maibuca (Tuvalu) are national 100m sprinters in their respective countries. They shared with BBC sports presenter, Sarah Mulkerrins their experiences coming from two of the smallest National...

By Makereta Komai, PACNEWS Editor in Tokyo At only 18 years of age, Nancy Abouke of Nauru is now ranked 10th in the women’s 76kg category after her Tokyo 2020 Olympic debut in weightlifting. The young Nauru lifter competed alongside some of the world’s top female lifters in the 76kg body weight category, recording a total lift of 203kg (snatch-90kg and...

A tuna fishing boat based in the Pacific island nation of Fiji that has been accused of essentially enslaving its crew was blocked Wednesday from importing seafood into the United States, part of an increasing effort to keep goods produced with forced labour from entering the country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection issued an order to stop any shipments in...

Are you an aspiring Pacific artist or graphic designer? The Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is looking for artists and graphic designers to submit entries into a special logo competition for the PCCC. The logo competition presents a unique opportunity to bring together Pacific cultures expressed through art and...

Viliame Vodonaivalu has been confirmed as CEO of the Fiji National Provident Fund(FNPF). Vodonaivalu has been acting in the role since the departure of Jaoji Koroi in February of this year. FNPF Board Chairman, Daksesh Patel, says they’re confident Vodonaivalu’s deep knowledge and significant local experience made him the best fit to lead the Fund through the challenges of the next...

Fiji has recorded 1,187 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 new deaths Wednesday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 33,850 since the outbreak in April. Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 387 cases are from the Western division and 800 cases are from the Central Division in Vitilevu, Fiji's main island. He said there...

A new vaccine may be needed if the Delta variant of Covid-19, which is currently in Fiji, continues to mutate, health experts say. The government said more than 22,000 people with Covid are in isolation and the death toll has reached 270 since the outbreak in April, and climbing. The victims included an 11-month-old baby, pregnant mothers, a 15-year-old teenager and...

-The United Nations has come under fire from a leading human rights advocate in Fiji for evacuating one of its Covid-positive workers for treatment to New Zealand last week. A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) worker in Fiji with Covid-19 was medically evacuated to New Zealand on an air ambulance jet on Thursday, and was taken to Middlemore Hospital for...

The head of the UN health organisation called on Wednesday for a moratorium on COVID-19 vaccine boosters until “at least the end of September” to enable the world’s most vulnerable people to be inoculated. “I understand the concern of all Governments to protect their people from the Delta variant, but we cannot accept countries that have already used most of...