PINA

Even with the emergence of the new Mu COVID-19 variant, the Delta strain remains the top concern globally, appearing to “outcompete” others, senior officials with the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday. “I think the Delta variant for me is the one that's most concerning because of the increased transmissibility,” said Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, the agency’s Technical Lead...

In a world reeling from the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, one of the strictest quarantine border controls has kept the Marshall Islands COVID-free. A four-week managed quarantine — two weeks in Honolulu and two in the Marshall Islands — is required for any inbound traveler. Only one case, in July 2020, was picked up in managed quarantine at...

There has been an increase in the trade and movement of guns along Papua New Guinea’s borders in preparation for the 2022 national election in the Highlands, a senior PNG police officer says. Border Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Peter Philip said that the firearms were being traded for marijuana or the drugs were sold and the money used to buy...

Fiji has recorded 160 new cases of COVID-19 and five new deaths Tuesday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 48,083 and 523 deaths since the outbreak in April. Fiji's Permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 88 cases are from the Western division and 72 cases are from the Central division in Vitilevu, Fiji's...

Victoria will get an extra 1,500 Pacific Islander workers to fill shortages on farms, but the farming federation has warned more quarantine facilities are urgently needed to meet the agriculture industry’s needs. The state government has faced criticism in recent weeks from the sector amid fears that demand for workers would overwhelm supply from next month. The Victorian Farmers Federation welcomed...

When Brent Hill, one of Australian tourism’s most successful marketers, decided to swap his role with a destination that boasts one of the planet's lowest COVID-19 caseloads for one burdened with the worst number per capita in the world, eyebrows were raised. In his job as marketing guru at the South Australian Tourism Commission, Hill hit pay dirt, literally, with...

Opinion by Gerard Finin and Terence Wesley-Smith After decades of ambivalence, the United States plans to expand its footprint in the Pacific islands region to dimensions larger than at any time since the second world war. But the Biden administration may be on the brink of embracing a flawed foreign policy initiative spanning almost one-third of the globe. Legislation before Congress,...

Vaccine inequity, unaffordable accommodation, travel challenges and new surges in the Covid19 pandemic will lock out huge numbers of developing country delegates from the UN climate talks set to take place in November. Climate Action Network (CAN), a global network of more than 1500 civil society organisations in over 130 countries working together to fight the climate emergency, has today...

Nauru is looking to host a Micronesia Presidents’ Summit Secretariat with leaders of Nauru, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and Kiribati putting in motion efforts to formalise the legal status of the new Secretariat. In the 20th Micronesian Presidents’ Summit communique signed by the five presidents – President of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau; President...

Australia's Minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, recently declared that “until everyone is safe from COVID, no one is safe”. But it's an objective that looks a long way off, given countries like Australia's nearest neighbour, Papua New Guinea, have some of the world’s lowest vaccination rates. Australia has donated hundreds of thousands of vaccines to its Pacific neighbours. But PNG's most...