The Samoan Prime Minister encourages people to get vaccinated, the CNMI reports two more Covid-19 cases and academic says Samoa's FAST party getting around village blocks.
Samoa's Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, Photo: Autagavaia Tipi Autagavaia
Samoan PM encouages vaccinations
Samoa's caretaker Prime Minister, Tuila'epa Sa'ilele Malielegaoi, has urged people to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
The statement comes a day after the Director General of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, announced a vaccination plan with those over the age of 18 to receive the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Speaking on his weekly radio programme Tuila'epa said everyone must be vaccinated for safety ahead of whenever the borders would reopen allowing travelers into the country.
Tuila'epa said the first shipment of 79,000 doses of the vaccine would arrive this weekend with more to come in the next month.
The caretaker government is planning for a thanksgiving church service to herald the start of the first round of the vaccination plan.
Fiji deals with thousands of cases of LTDD
Fiji's Ministry of Health has recorded over 5,400 cases of Leptospirosis, Typhoid, Dengue and Diarrhoea following Cyclones Yasa and Ana this year.
Minister for Health, Dr Ifereimi Waqainabete said there were 1,747 dengue fever cases with five deaths.
He said there had also been 99 cases of typhoid with one death.
The minister said his ministry was positioning itself to combat the spread of such disease.
Waqainabete said natural disasters increased the intensity of the diseases and also highlighted that there were 3,019 cases of diarrhoeal disease.
CNMI reports two more Covid-19 cases
There are two additional Covid-19 cases in the Northern Mariana Islands after two passengers tested positive.
That brings the Commonwealth's cumulative total of COVID-19 cases to 159 since its first case almost a year ago.
The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation said the two people were identified by travel screening and confirmed diagnosis through testing upon arrival and fifth day arrival.
The pair had been safely placed in quarantine and were moved to the designated isolation area at the Kanoa Resort Alternate Care Facility for close monitoring.
Academic says Samoa's FAST party getting around village blocks
A New Zealand-Samoan academic says the opposition Fa'atuatua i le Atua Samoa ua Tasi, or FAST Party, is successfully conveying policy despite evidence showing it has been blocked from at least one village.
Samoa goes to the polls on 9 April.
Victoria University's Dr Iati Iati said FAST had been successful at adopting new technology and social media to communicate.
The politics and international relations senior lecturer said the move by some village chiefs to block the party from physically campaigning had limited success in the digital age.
"Nearly everyone has a cellphone. Everyone can communicate very easily with everyone so while they may have restricted FAST's engagement with certain villages etc, FAST's message is, it's getting through to the people."