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India has formally approved the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines as it prepares for one of the world's biggest inoculation drives. India immunisation programme is one of the largest in the world The drugs regulatory authority gave the green light to the jabs developed by AstraZeneca with Oxford University and by local firm Bharat Biotech. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it "a decisive turning point". India plans to inoculate some 300 million people on a priority list this year. It has recorded the second-highest number of infections in the world, with more than 10.3 million confirmed cases to date. Nearly 150,000 people have died. On Saturday India held nationwide drills to prepare more than 90,000 health care workers to administer vaccines across the country, which has a population of 1.3 billion people. The Drugs Controller General of India said both manufacturers had submitted data showing their vaccines were safe to use. However, opposition politicians and some doctors have criticised a lack of transparency in the approval process. Dr Swapneil Parikh, an infectious diseases researcher based in Mumbai, told the BBC doctors were in a difficult position. "I understand there is a need to go through the process quickly, remove regulatory hurdles," he said. "However... [governments and regulators] have a duty to be transparent about the data they have reviewed and the process involved in making the decision to authorise a vaccine, because if they don't do this, it can affect the public's faith in the process." Source: BBC News

A heavy rain warning remains in force for Fiji. The Nadi Weather Office says a trough of low pressure remains slow moving over the country. They say that the weather is expected to gradually clear from Wednesday. A flash flood warning is in force for all low lying areas and areas adjacent to small rivers and streams in the Western half of Viti Levu which includes areas from Tuva,Nadroga to Nadi and through to Rakiraki. A flash flood alert is in force all low lying areas and areas adjacent to small rivers and streams in Lekutu through to Nabouwalu to Kubulau, areas along Bagata through to Savusavu to Vinidawa and is also in force for all low lying areas along Labasa and Qawa River. Source: fijivillage

The first batch of coronavirus vaccines arrived in Palau early on Saturday morning, greeted on the tarmac by the president-elect and health minister. Health minister Emais Roberts said 2,800 doses of the Moderna vaccine arrived on a special flight from the United States. "Vaccines arrived," Roberts said in a text message. He said the ministry would start using the vaccine from 3 January, with health workers first in line to receive the jabs. Following that, the ministry said it would look to vaccinate key officials and decision makers, then the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. Roberts, along with President-elect Surangel Whipps Jr, and US Ambassador John Hennessey-Niland were at the Palau International Airport to greet the 5:30am flight. "On this second day of the New Year, Operation Warp Speed brings hope to the people of Palau," Whipps said. Hennessey-Niland later said in a statement: "The US is a friend and partner of Palau. The arrival of the life-saving vaccines is a wonderful way to start 2021. I thank everyone who has helped getting the vaccine here and keeping Palau Covid-free." Operation Warp Speed is the name the United States has given to its vaccine distribution programme. In the Pacific, both US territories and freely-associated states will receive vaccines. Both Australia and New Zealand have also pledged to fund and deliver vaccines to Pacific countries. Earlier, Whipps had urged the ministry to speed up its vaccination programme after it was announced the first jabs would be administered from 11 January. "There is no reason to wait until January 11," he told reporters last week. "We need to act with a sense of urgency and show our appreciation to be part of Operation Warp Speed." The health ministry said it hoped to have nearly all of Palau's population vaccinated by April. The Palau government has asked for 30,000 doses, which it said it expected to receive in the next three months. The flight continued on to Federated States of Micronesia, to deliver vaccines there. Source: RNZ

Two new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. A 42 year old male was reported positive in New Ireland province whilst a 24 year old male was reported positive in East New Britain. The 42 year old who lives in Namatanai district in New Ireland province is a mine worker who was tested at the Lihir Medical Centre. He was experiencing fever, cough, headache and muscle ache at the time of testing. In East New Britain, the 24 year old male was tested at Nonga. He did not show symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of testing but swab samples have returned positive. The 24 year old travelled from West New Britain on the 22nd December 2020. The country’s Covid 19 cases now stands at 799 and 9 deaths. A total of 39,761 people have been tested for Coronavirus. 755 people have recovered whilst 281 samples are pending at the laboratories. Thirty-five active cases are in isolation. Sixteen provinces including the Autonomous Region of Bougainville have reported cases. The distribution of the cases is as follows: Provinces                      Cases NCD                                361 Western Province        212 West New Britain         140 East New Britain           21 Eastern H/lands             13 New Ireland                   13 Western H/lands           10 Central                             10 Morobe                            6 East Sepik                        3 Enga                                 3 Milne Bay                        2 West Sepik                      2 Southern H/lands          1 AROB                                1 Hela Province                  1 TOTAL                           799 Globally, the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 has reached 82,579,768, including 640,505 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The death toll is 1,818,849; of which 11,237 were reported in the last 24 hours.

This news just in! 2 new COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in the country in the last 24 hours. A 42 year old male was reported positive in New Ireland province whilst a 24 year old male was reported positive in East New Britain. The country’s COVID-19 cases now stands at 799 and 9 deaths. Keep to your COVID-19 safety practises, listen in to the news on this station or follow our website pnghausbung.com for more on this story.

The Public are advised that today from 10am to 4pm you are allowed to come to the National Parliament to pay last Respects to the Late Rt Hon Sir Mekere Mourata MP in the Grand Hall. No invitation needed. All are Welcome. This has been announced by the State Funeral organizing Committee Chairman and member for Moresby South Justin Tkatchenko when announcing the 8 day State Funeral arrangements for late Sir Mekere. Monday January 4th marks Day 5 when the Late Sir Mek will be laid in state at the Grand Hall in Parliament for public viewing.” On Day 8, the country will witness the late Sir Mekere's State Funeral at the Sione Kami Memorial Church at East Boroko which will be on Friday the 8th of January, 2021. "The funeral service on Friday will be followed by his burial at Independence Hill.” The Late Sir Mekere Morauta will be laid to rest on the 8th of January, 2021 at the Independence Hill alongside former Prime Minister the Late Sir William Skate.

Nine (9) bodies out of the fifteen (15) that were buried under ground up at Saki, Goilala District have being recovered by the team on the sixth day of the search. That’s from the local MP for Goilala William Samb in a joint press conference on Sunday. Mr Samb also stated that they were fortunate enough to deliver seven (7) to the respected villages for a decent burial. “The Governor for Central, our Provincial Disaster Team and I are working very closely to ensure we are putting all resources available to ensure we recover our loved ones." "Due to the heavy downpour, it has been difficult to access the terrain and to provide the basic equipment that are also needed to make the job easier but Mr Samb said they will still be able to have these items transported." “We have supplied water pumping facilities, chainsaws, hand gloves, masks and other basic tools and necessary equipment like food to support our local men who are on the ground working tirelessly to retrieve the remaining bodies." He thanked the Governor for Central Province, Robert Agarobe and the Provincial Health Authority for Central Province, Mr Pana Rim for being very helpful to the people of Saki during the unfortunate disaster that struck before the New Year. Goilala MP William Samb, Central Governor Mr Robert Agarobe and the Provincial Disease Control Officer, Mr Pana Rim will be flying over to the site on Tuesday to do a final assessment and to see the outcome of the search and its progress and will provide updates when they return. They will also speak to the villages there about safety and the way forward after the tragic disaster. “We are also very thankful to those people who have been calling since day one of the disaster trying to assist." "After a thorough discussion, a Coordination Centre will be established hopefully by tomorrow and those that are willing and interested to assist in cash and kind can visit us there.” Central Governor, Robert Agarobe has said that their priority right now is to retrieve the rest of the bodies and once it is done they will start looking at the rehabilitation part of it which he thinks is another big exercise plus the cleaning up of the area. “There is still a lot of debris and a lot of big logs that were washed down and whether we like it or not, our people will still go down there to continue their alluvial mining and it is very hard to regulate out there especially in the middle of nowhere and the best thing we can do is tidy up and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He further added that it is a very difficult area and when you are mining, you are disturbing the soil and anything is bound to happen again so the next thing to do is conduct awareness to the locals there on the dangers of mining. 

The Controller of the PNG COVID-19 National Pandemic Response David Manning has issued new directives to Airline operators to resume flights into and out of the West New Britain Province to enable stranded passengers to return home. All persons from the West New Britain Province who are currently out of the province are allowed to return to the province within the next five days beginning January 2, 2021. Similarly, those from other provinces currently in the West New Britain Province have five days to arrange for their travel out to their provinces. However, all passengers will have to do a COVID-19 test using antigen rapid test kits. Results for these tests will be available in 15-20 minutes. A total of 20,000 kits are already in the West New Britain Province. The directive to Airline operators is attached below.

A New Year’s Resolution is a tradition in which a person resolves to continue good practices, change an undesired behavior or otherwise improve your life in one way or another. Have you got any New Year's resolutions for 2021 and if so, what are some of them? We asked some of you and here are your answers... Vox pop of New Year resolutions We wish you well with those resolutions.

Happy New Year! How were your celebrations? How did you welcome the New Year 2021? We took to the streets to ask some of you these questions and here's what some of you had to say... Vox Pop of New Year celebrations However, you may have celebrated, our wish for you is that your 2021 be even better than the year gone by.

Its day 3 of the New Year, 2021, which brings us to only a year away from the 2022 National General Elections. 2020 had its fair share of political uncertainty so we took to the streets to ask what you hoped our National Parliament should focus on in 2021. Here's your say... Vox pop of public wish for Parliament in 2021

The year gone by 2020 sure has been a hectic year for us all with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions. We asked a few of you what you hoped for this New Year 2021 and here’s your say... Vox Pop of public wish for 2021