Nauru

The report, 'Predicting the impacts of mining of deep sea polymetallic nodules in the Pacific Ocean', is a fusion of more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific and other articles.

Compiled in conjunction with the Deep Sea Mining Campaign, it said there was a lack of certainty around the proposed methods of companies seeking exploration licenses in the Pacific.

But the campaign's coordinator, Helen Rosenbaum, said researchers found the risk of serious environmental damage was high.

The Australian Government has granted exemption to Nauruans requiring urgent critical medical care to enter Australia for treatment.

The positive development was followed by news of the breakdown in negotiations with the Fiji Government to allow Nauru Airlines entry to operate a repatriation flight for Nauruan students and other Nauruans.

One flight was allowed on 9 April but subsequent requests by the Nauru Government to permit Nauru Airlines entry into Fiji were unsuccessful.

The equipment was made available through the Disaster Resilience for Pacific Small Island Developing States (RESPAC) project. Amongst other priorities, the project aims to strengthen the Republic of Nauru’s preparedness for the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The PPE was presented to Health Attaché, Sharon Aremwa by the RESPAC Project Manager and UNDP Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Advisor, Noud Leenders in Suva recently. .

Past incidents of security breaches at the Budapest have not reoccurred with the current group in quarantine at the Meneñ Hotel, who have another week in managed quarantine.

Globally, the aviation sector is collapsing and is also having a major impact on Nauru Airlines with measures taking on coronavirus. Border restrictions and closures, and halting of international travel are affecting the airline.

While a Nauru Airlines freighter is still operating to ensure Nauru is amply supplied, four passenger planes have been parked due to the reduced flight activity.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), global figures of new cases continue to rise between 70,000 and 90,000 daily.

President Lionel Aingimea says this means the numbers for COVID-19 continue to grow, and warns that every person that has not been infected is still susceptible to being infected.

“We cannot put down our guard, we must always be ready.”

From last week’s Brisbane flight 16 people are in quarantine at the Meneñ Hotel, including a fisheries observer who arrived by a fishing vessel and 18 at Canstruct (Anibare village).

On Saturday 2 May, the World Health Organisation recorded 3,356,205 confirmed cases and 238,730 deaths.

In Monday’s media briefing, President Aingimea said even though numbers are slowing down in neighbouring Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, there are still between 70,000 to 90,000 new cases every day globally.

The next flight from Brisbane will arrive on Friday 1 May with 27 passengers. They will be taken to the Meneñ Hotel and Anibare Village for their 14 days quarantine. One Nauruan fisheries observer is also waiting on a vessel at sea and will disembark at the same arrival time as the Brisbane flight. He will then go into quarantine with this group.

The Coronavirus Taskforce and the Nauru Police Force are working on a national response drill while the hospital is also working on its own drill.

While Nauru remains coronavirus-free, President Aingimea says we haven’t seen the end of it yet.”

As some countries are saying they are winning the fight against coronavirus, President Aingimea is cautious that Nauru continues to be diligent in its efforts to stopping coronavirus from entering Nauru and calls for prayers for countries affected by it.

A Joint Ministerial Statement by Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, The Republic of Nauru, New Zealand, Singapore and Uruguay represents a collective response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, with a commitment to maintaining open and connected supply chains, as well as to collaborating to identify and address trade disruptions with ramifications on the flow of necessities.

In an interview with the Government Information Office, President Aingimea said as such this action is to ensure the community is protected from any possible spread of infection.

An incident over the weekend where a group of friends visited a friend in quarantine were considered to be in close proximity of the resident have since been contained until further tests are done.