Staff Writer
Only one person died from the measles in the last 24 hours to bring the total to 63, as the emergency mass vaccination count reaches 20,000 by 11.00am this morning.
The solitary fatality in this latest Update 20 report is compared to only two from the previous Update 19.
The number of new recorded cases have dropped to 140 in this latest update compared to 165 in Update 9.
By Staff Writer
Hawaiian lady vaccinators assigned to a local team, were working on the run this morning to cover their selected area on the final day of the emergency campaign but still had time to appreciate, the ‘very friendly people’ of Samoa.
This was first expression for the two lady volunteer workers who are in Samoa in response to the call for help in the fight against the measles epidemic.
By Staff Writer
Vaccination teams spilled onto Beach Road before sunrise this morning, on the final day of the emergency mass vaccination campaign started yesterday ( Thursday).
The closed off street where the national emergency operations were co-ordinated since the start of the vaccination campaign ran out of space.
Government was forced to move out onto Beach Road and public notice was sent out for traffic to be diverted to other alternative routes.
5th December 2019, Apia — As Samoa grapples with an unprecedented measles epidemic, the United Nations Development Programme is working with the Government of Samoa to improve the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of critical health information to rebuild public confidence about vaccines, especially at the community level.
Measles vaccination teams will have little trouble finding the homes where their service is needed, when they travel the one way street of the To’omatagi Residential area tomorrow (Friday).
Red rags blossomed like flowers late in the day in front of family homes where it would be hard for the visiting measles vaccinators to miss.
Red pieces of clothing were seen tied to roadside rubbish bins, hibiscus hedges and electricity utility poles.
Food and children clothing were among the loads that were trucked to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday from a group of Chinese businesses to help with the measles epidemic effort.
Staff Writer
Only one person died from the measles in the last 24 hours to bring the total to 63, as the emergency mass vaccination count reaches 20,000 by 11.00am this morning.
Medical doctors, nurses and allied staff workers are not just fronting up to the call of duty but taking it beyond by sheer will power sparked by the fight to save lives.
Many of the main streets of Apia were empty of people and cars at the start of the two day shutdown.
Many of the main streets of Apia were empty of people and cars at the start of the two day shutdown.
The roads were strangely quiet at mid-morning today on the first of the two day emergency shut down from Thursday to Friday to allow for the nation wide mass vaccination against measles.
Police traffic patrols were busy stopping vehicles on the road that were not part of the emergency workers involved with the vaccination and sending them back home.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is reported to be outraged by a Samoan toddler who was refused a measles vaccination in Auckland before heading back to Samoa.
"The fact we didn't assist one child in New Zealand when we are giving vaccines to Samoa to vaccinate feels nonsensical to me," Ardern was quoted by online news outlet Stuff.
A RNZ report brought to the NZ leader’s attention the 15-month toddler who was visiting his grandparents in New Zealand.
Staff Writer
The measles death toll is at 62 with 2 more fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours.
New deaths recorded in the last three 24 hour updates shows a clear downward fluctuations with a 2-5-2 fatality sequence.
Update 17 showed 2 fatalities in 24 hours, Update 18 followed with the fatality count up by 5 and this latest recording for Update 19 is back down to only 2.
Miss Samoa Miss Pacific Island took to her vaccination nursing work with a smile today, when she joined the vaccination team working from the Samoa Tourism Authority Fale.
Fonoifafo McFarland Seumanu is a New Zealand registered nurse who voluntarily offered her nursing skills as her first official duties since her triumphant return from the Miss Pacific Islands pageant in Papua New Guinea last week.
Deidre Fanene
Newly crowned Miss Pacific Island, Fonoifafo Nancy McFarland, will leave behind her beauty crown today for a nursing cap to battle the measles virus.
Fonoifafo steps out of her new found world of glamour to the harsh realties of the real life in her profession as a fully qualified registered nurse.
Her nursing skills as a vaccinator are badly needed to confront the measles epidemic through vaccination.
Five more people have died from the measles in the last 24 hours compared to only 2 from the previous update.
The death toll has now up to 60 to overtake the earlier count of 55.
There were 171 new cases recorded in the last 24 hours compared to the last recording of 153.
There are now 4,052 measles cases an increase from the previous total of 3,881.
The Disaster Advisory Committee DAC is up to the task of ensuring that resources are available for the mass immunization plan by the government.
Things have been busy lately however. Chairman of DAC Ulu Bismarck Crawley spoke to Newsline Samoa yesterday that the committee is handling things smoothly.
He said there are enough government workers allocated to handle each specific task required to accommodate the mass vaccination efforts that are ongoing
Before the measles outbreak, Vasa Malolo Gataifale of Magiagi village was cruising along in his taxi and living comfortable with his family from daily earnings.
The measles epidemic struck and business started to slow down as the traveling public dwindled off slowly.
Gataifale is in a business arrangement where he has a set target to meet at the end of the week to give the owner, whatever is left over goes into his pocket.
Measles vaccination teams will have little trouble finding the homes where their service is needed, when they travel the one way street of the To’omatagi Residential area tomorrow (Friday).
Red rags blossomed like flowers late in the day in front of family homes where it would be hard for the visiting measles vaccinators to miss.
Red pieces of clothing were seen tied to roadside rubbish bins, hibiscus hedges and electricity utility poles.
Rebecca Lanuola Schuster a lawyer from Samoa formerly with the Office of the Attorney General (AG) is now the newest assistant AG for the Palau judiciary.
Schuster is to serve as a legal counsel for the Environment Quality Protection Board (EQPB)
A cruise liner MMS Regatta which was supposed to dock at Matautu wharf last month had to change route because of the measles crisis Samoa is currently facing.
Port Master, at Samoa Ports Authority (SPA) Seinafolava Tomane confirmed with Newsline Samoa yesterday.
Seinafolava said that he is not aware of any other cancellations of cruise liners scheduled for Samoa this month.
The death toll from the measles epidemic has broken past the 50 mark with the count up to 53 in the latest Ministry of Health update.
Five people died within the last 24 hours.
The Ministry of Health confirms a total of 3,728 measles cases of which 198 were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Deidre Tautua – Fanene
A 24 year old registered nurse is the new Miss Samoa. Her name is Fonoifafo Nancy McFarland – Seumanu.
Nine Samoan beauties drawn from Australia, New Zealand, US and Samoa, went after the crown, including the winner who entered the pageant as Miss New Zealand Samoa.
Deidre Fanene
The man who broke into the Police Station and stole a portion of the marijuana seized from the Faleatiu raid last month appeared in Supreme Court this week.
Pauli Lapana 55 is facing charges of unlawful entry when he broke into the Apia Police Station last month.
He was unrepresented, and prosecution Fuifui Ioane asked the court if the matter could be adjourned for two weeks so they could finalise charges.
Deidre Fanene
The photo of the young mother of a dead baby whose body was found at the Mulifanua Wharf recently is not to made public.
District Court Judge Alalatoa Rosella Papalii issued a court order on Tuesday on the ban.
The mother had already pleaded guilty to concealing the dead body.
ONLY IN SAMOA : Poster promoting the holiday cheer while a young vendor tries to smile from behind a measles protection face mask, is probably the best way to sum up where we are right now.
It’s getting harder and harder these past few weeks to feel any cheer in the heart with the measles virus taking away all those babies.
The heart is in fact feeling the heavy emotional burden as the fatality count continues to tick over and over and over virtually every day.
If you see someone walking around with a ‘sei pua’ or yellow frangipani over the next few weeks, it’s to let you know about cancer.
August is cancer month, for those of us who don’t know yet.
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