PINA

-New rules allowing seasonal workers to enter New Zealand without going through managed isolation have been welcomed in Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu. The relaxed restrictions for workers from the three countries in the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme are expected to be a boon for the tourism-reliant countries, which have had no visitors for the past 17 months. But the RSE...

A step in the right direction, but missing a crucial ingredient - that’s how advocates for migrants’ rights describe the New Zealand Government's apology for the Dawn Raids. The missing ingredient is a clear path forward for overstayers, says Migrant Workers Association president Anu Kaloti. Amnesty for the close to 14,000 overstayers currently in New Zealand would give the apology meaning...

Ashley Bloomfield says the New Zealand Ministry of Health did not heavy Auckland clinicians into changing their minds and accepting a UN official with Covid-19 from Fiji. But the director general of health couldn't say what new information had informed the clinicians' decision to do a U-turn and accept the patient. The infected worker was flown to Auckland for hospital treatment...

Those who live on the islands and atolls of the southwestern Pacific Ocean are exposed to rising seas and severe storms like almost no one else on Earth, and yet only a fraction are insured against the growing threat of climate change-related ecosystem, human, and economic losses. A new initiative from WWF and the global advisory, broking, and solutions company...

Tonga is set to introduce compulsory inoculation against COVID-19. A Bill to amend the Public Health Act to enforce inoculation of the Public against COVID-19, was among seven Bills that government tabled in parliament Tuesday. A new Emergency Powers Clause 181A of the Public Health Act, states that it will be a crime for anybody to refuse to be vaccinated against...

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s father, Ross Ardern, carried out Dawn Raids as a young policeman in Auckland. The involvement of Ardern’s father in the Dawn Raids, which the Government formally apologised for on Sunday, was reported by Newstalk ZB on Tuesday. Ardern reportedly said her father was uncomfortable about his involvement in the raids and did not believe...

Fiji has recorded 1,220 new cases of COVID-19 and seven deaths Tuesday, increasing the total number of cases in the island nation to 32,663 since the outbreak that started in April. Fiji's permanent secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said 464 cases are from the Western division and 756 cases are from the Central division in Vitilevu, Fiji's main island. Dr...

Fiji's main island Viti Levu remains at the mercy of COVOD-19 and this is concerning for the Ministry of Health as 2 261vlives have been claimed due to the infection. Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong said the ministry has the capacity in the morgues to cater for the increased deaths. The Health Ministry has been registering COVID deaths in...

Papua New Guinea Commissioner of Police and Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response, David Manning, has called on citizens to come forward and get the COVID-19 vaccine. Manning called upon citizens not to be complacent against COVID-19 even as no new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Saturday 31 July. He said so far the virus has affected 17,774...

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...