News from Aotearoa/New Zealand and the Pacific Islands

The Press

www.thepress.co.nz www.thepress.co.nz
(Paywalled)

New Zealand entering ninth wave of Covid, precautions urged as winter illnesses approach​

New Zealand is heading into its ninth wave of Covid-19, with data showing 184 hospitalisations and 19 deaths reported in the past week, according to public health expert Michael Baker.​
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Baker said the virus likely caused more harm than influenza when factoring in long Covid cases.​
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“Hundreds of people will be getting infected every week and risking long Covid,” he said. “Based on international evidence, it's quite correct to assume that scores of people will be getting quite severely impaired every week from this infection.”​
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New Zealand currently had no surveillance system for long Covid.​
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“There are still almost 20 people a week dying from this infection. So that's going to translate into a thousand people a year dying from this infection.”​
 
www.rnz.co.nz

Ninth wave of Covid-19 suggests wane in immunity, expert says everyone must 'act to reduce impact'

The latest figures show 50 hospitalisations with the virus in the past week.
www.rnz.co.nz www.rnz.co.nz

Another article with quotes from University of Otago professor of public health Michael Baker:

But this wave wasn't following the pattern of a new subvariant emerging, which suggested a wane in immunity.​
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Baker said the virus was still New Zealand's most impactful infectious disease - equating to about 1000 deaths a year - compared to influenza which accounted for about 500.​
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Baker said getting regular boosters reduced the risk of Long Covid.​
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The "disabling illness" was not being monitored at all in New Zealand which Baker said was a "gap" in tracking the virus.​
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He suggested periodic surveys would be enough to track how many people are living with it.​
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Viewable for a few more days (TVNZ account needed I think). Short segment on Long Covid on Breakfast starting at about 35min in

Long Covid advocate makes a cogent argument for monitoring cases and for an economic impact study in NZ. Ministry of Health responds with the following written statement (complete with inconsistent spelling of LC):

“We recognise the significant impact long COVID has on people and understand there are individuals experiencing prolonged symptoms.​
There are no plans for Long COVID monitoring nor for any economic analysis.”​
 
Ravn said:
Viewable for a few more days (TVNZ account needed I think). Short segment on Long Covid on Breakfast starting at about 35min in

Long Covid advocate makes a cogent argument for monitoring cases and for an economic impact study in NZ. Ministry of Health responds with the following written statement (complete with inconsistent spelling of LC):

“We recognise the significant impact long COVID has on people and understand there are individuals experiencing prolonged symptoms.​
There are no plans for Long COVID monitoring nor for any economic analysis.”​
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Thanks, I couldn’t get to watch it. I downloaded the app and set my VPN to New Zealand, but it won’t let me watch it. I checked my IP address and my location and it it should be New Zealand. Not sure what’s going on.
 
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Adam pwme said:
Thanks, I couldn’t get to watch it. I downloaded the app and set my VPN to New Zealand, but it won’t let me watch it. I checked my IP address and my location and it it should be New Zealand. Not sure what’s going on.
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How annoying!

Did you create an account, too? I have a feeling they don’t let you watch if you’re not logged in with an account

I’ve also come across situations where an overseas website seemed to be able to pick I was using VPN and blocked access, maybe tvnz are doing the same?

Anyway, thanks for trying
 
Adam pwme said:
Thanks, I couldn’t get to watch it. I downloaded the app and set my VPN to New Zealand, but it won’t let me watch it. I checked my IP address and my location and it it should be New Zealand. Not sure what’s going on.
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They can tell if you are using a VPN, and blanket bans on accessing via a VPN are an effective, if crude, tool to stop people watching from outside the country.

Same problem here in Australia if I try to watch stuff on our national broadcaster (ABC). Have to turn off my VPN to access it.
 
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Ravn said:
There are no plans for Long COVID monitoring
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Turns out the MoH actually did a survey last year but forgot to mention it to anyone

Press release by Long Covid Support. Apparently there’ll be a piece about it on RNZ tomorrow morning at 6:45am
”press release” said:
The Ministry of Health has today released past national survey data showing the scale of Long Covid in New Zealand.

By June 2025, the survey estimates more than 400,000 Kiwi adults may have developed Long Covid at some point – including about 185,000 still experiencing symptoms.

Results from the just-released 2024/25 New Zealand Health Survey indicate:
  • The equivalent of 185,000 adults in New Zealand was experiencing Long Covid at the time of the survey (July 2024 to June 2025).
  • About 1 in 11 adults (9.2% or roughly 401,000 people) reported ever having Long Covid symptoms following a Covid-19 infection.
  • This represents 11.9% of adults who reported having had Covid-19.
  • Women, Māori and disabled adults were more likely to report having had Long Covid.
  • Of those who’d had Covid, about 1 in 6 Māori adults (15.5%) reported having had Long Covid, compared to about 1 in 9 non-Māori adults (11.3%).
  • Nearly half of those who developed Long Covid were still experiencing symptoms when surveyed.
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More at link
 
 
www.rnz.co.nz

Novids, super-dodgers: The people who have never had Covid

Despite the ninth wave of Covid pushing up hospitalisations, some people say they have never had the virus.
www.rnz.co.nz www.rnz.co.nz

Novids, super-dodgers: The people who have never had Covid
Despite the ninth wave of Covid currently pushing up hospitalisations, some people have never had Covid or - more likely - had it with no symptoms, so never tested to know. It’s an exclusive club that scientists are studying with the goal of eventually reverse-engineering better immunity for similar illnesses and future pandemics through better vaccines and other measures.
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Scientists are circling in on a particular gene variant, and if people have two copies of that variant, then they are eight times more likely to avoid Covid symptoms than those without a double, says Petousis-Harris.
Those particular molecules have shown an increased effectiveness in taking a seasonal coronavirus and putting up a quick defence against viruses with a similar makeup, she says.
Diversity of genes, like having parents from different regions of the world, can also boost your immune response in general.
“We also know at the other extreme end, when you get a lot of, you know, very small communities inbreeding, I think the people tend to not be as strong as those who live in normal, larger communities and aren't as closely related to each other.”
Scientists are also looking at the noses of Novids and their basal immune tone, “so basically the level of immune activation you have in your nasal passage,” says Dr Kerry Hilligan, a cellular immunologist at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in Wellington.
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“That’s one of the reasons why we think children are actually protected because if you look at the immune tone of the nasal passages of children, they are generally very high, partly because of their age and then partly because everything goes on the face and the mouth, up the nose, and so the immune response is heightened.”
Hilligan is quick to point out that exposure to germs could strengthen your immune system against Covid, but that same tactic doesn’t work so well when it comes to RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus. Children are more susceptible to RSV, she says.
“While these traits might be really beneficial for Covid, they are probably not beneficial for other things.”
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The Conversation Almost 200,000 New Zealanders are now living with long COVID – where is the government plan?

John Potter Professor of Public Health, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Amanda Kvalsvig Research Associate Professor of Public Health, University of Otago

The latest New Zealand Health Survey confirms the impacts of the COVID pandemic continue, six years after the initial outbreak
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about one in 11 adults (401,000 people) described symptoms lasting three months or longer. These were health impacts they had not experienced prior to the COVID infection and could not be explained by a different diagnosis.
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Overall, 11.9% of adults who contracted COVID developed long COVID following the acute phase, and almost half (48.5%) of them were still experiencing symptoms at the time they completed the survey.
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The accepted definition of a rare disease is one case in 2,000 people. If a condition is more common than that, the number of people affected becomes high enough to need specific health services.

The long COVID prevalence of 9.2% of all adults in New Zealand is more than a hundred times greater than this rare-disease threshold.

The practical implications are clear. Long COVID is a health burden which must be addressed by specific health-service resources.
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The practical implications are clear. Long COVID is a health burden which must be addressed by specific health-service resources.
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The problem with that is that most of the people who might be called on to say what those specific health-service resources should be are misinformed. At the moment, the lack of attention is probably actually protecting people with Long COVID from even greater harms than being ignored.
 
Mod note: We've moved the full post to the Members Only thread for Mel Abbott's Empower Therapies - here


Has anyone come across this , “empower therapies” ?
A well-meaning friend of my mothers fwd the above (eye-poking territory . Honestly !).
Did a brief scan and couldn’t believe this bs is still flowing … what is it with those that have come right (assuming they were diagnosed with ME) thinking they can cure everyone ?Or am I missing something ?


By the way ,received a huge postal package from CCIS (the Tauranga based outfit that were discussed here a few years ago),… folder full with links to online help , nutritionist support, similar “pacing” scenarios to wellbeing . (Though at least the people of CCIS address things in a gentle “ no push” ,acceptance, fashion).
Waste of precious energy for me now - but couldnt help wondering how Id be today if Id had access to half their information when first ill, thoroughly ignorant and bewildered !
(Nothing new but nicely put together folder full, with links to all our fonts of information in NZ , incl Dr R.Vallings writings and introductions, financial support options through our social services , and more !
Dont know if theyve upped their game but I was impressed with their efforts towards support ,and suggested one on one overview of an individuals situation.
(If I was only well enough for all these well intentioned “zoom”meetings)
:yawn::rolleyes::facepalm:
 
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T&O said:
By the way ,received a huge postal package from CCIS (the Tauranga based outfit that were discussed here a few years ago),… folder full with links to online help , nutritionist support, similar “pacing” scenarios to wellbeing . (Though at least the people of CCIS address things in a gentle “ no push” ,acceptance, fashion).
...
(Nothing new but nicely put together folder full, with links to all our fonts of information in NZ , incl Dr R.Vallings writings and introductions, financial support options through our social services , and more !
Dont know if theyve upped their game but I was impressed with their efforts towards support ,and suggested one on one overview of an individuals situation.
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I continue to have a lot of concerns about Complex Chronic Illness Support (CCIS). I see that Fiona Charlton, who leads ANZMES, is now also 'Chair/President' of CCIS. Given ANZMES has had aspirations of being a national organisation, representing regional organisations including CCIS, this is an interesting move. It looks as though CCIS has aspirations to be have a nationwide presence.

Our thread about the organisation is here. There have been lots of commentary on the forum about the problems with Ros Vallings' advice about ME/CFS also.

Coincidentally, yesterday I came across a CCIS about a trial of CoQ10 that completely misrepresents the findings - presenting a null result as a positive result - here.

With the BPS people such as Abbott and Arroll on the one side, and the people spreading biological nonsense on the other, often in our own charities, I feel as though we may be losing the battle to help people with ME/CFS get good care and good information in New Zealand.
 
Hutan said:
I continue to have a lot of concerns about Complex Chronic Illness Support (CCIS). I see that Fiona Charlton, who leads ANZMES, is now also 'Chair/President' of CCIS. Given ANZMES has had aspirations of being a national organisation, representing regional organisations including CCIS, this is an interesting move. It looks as though CCIS has aspirations to be have a nationwide presence.

Our thread about the organisation is here. There have been lots of commentary on the forum about the problems with Ros Vallings' advice about ME/CFS also.

Coincidentally, yesterday I came across a CCIS about a trial of CoQ10 that completely misrepresents the findings - presenting a null result as a positive result - here.

With the BPS people such as Abbott and Arroll on the one side, and the people spreading biological nonsense on the other, often in our own charities, I feel as though we may be losing the battle to help people with ME/CFS get good care and good information in New Zealand.
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Hear you !.
Thanks for laying everything out so clearly and I agree.
I did see that Fiona Charlton has presence at CCIS. …and yes, does appear that politics are beginning to complicate and divide.
Ive found ANZMES personally excellent to have something reliable to turn to for information (and for their known advocacy) . Ive known about them
from early diagnosis days… but at the same time its basis feels like a reference point - like Library reference books of old.

I did see there was discussion and complaint about CCIS here.
Theyre comparatively new to me !
-their growing presence and keenness to actively reach out to you is a markedly different approach (as too their “umbrella” feel, trying to include those illnesses that dont get the same attention ).
The lean into emotional healing is concerning ( my hackles rise on any psycho-babble linked with auto-immune health)…that said as someone struggling with daily-living , living alone ,having to spend more time horizontal (already over-extended just trying to articulate a response)… I felt hope !
That there might be another tweak I can make to improve. We are mostly alone… and Im currently too ill to chase down further specialists or push and push again for possible tests or further personalised understanding on how to manage living. (I dont have anyone to do this for me or with me at this point). This new mushrooming body are offering options…its something !
Im sorry I cant be more succinct.

I havent read about the problems with Ros Vallings, or issues with her advice.
I only know of my dealings with her at early diagnosis and they were enlightening
and incredibly helpful. In more ways than one.
She immediately gave me links to others writings, current research and more.
Im sure youre aware that shes spent time behind the scenes trying to engage and inform and Ive met social workers who admitted to me they had thought this illness was basically a con until they were informed , by Ros Vallings, about living with ME and chronic illness.
This was of course around 15 years ago now.
(Im wondering if we could pull apart any if not all writings or books amongst our varying ME health challenges , espec after new findings which change those ideas of 20 or 30 years ago).
I find myself being a little defensive here (surprise) because her words and past actions have made my life easier than it might have been (and without doubt have enabled so much more knowledge in this field… what do people say, ? the shoulders we stand on today ? , the work that was done prior ?
Shouldnt be underestimated or forgotten !)
 
I hear you too T&O. When so many people are clearly telling us we are just imagining our illness, it is not surprising that we are grateful to the first person who is caring and seems to have knowledge.

I think Ros Vallings and ANZMES materially set back the understanding of ME/CFS in New Zealand. Vallings hardened views that ME/CFS is a psychosomatic condition in a number of ways. Hopefully she no longer directly influences things, but unfortunately the harm she caused is going to go on for a long time yet. We aren't building on her work. Instead we are having to try to undo the ideas that she gave to health professionals and people with ME/CFS and their families. And it's really hard.

T&O said:
(Im wondering if we could pull apart any if not all writings or books amongst our varying ME health challenges , espec after new findings which change those ideas of 20 or 30 years ago).
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Vallings, ANZMES and others have contributed to us now not being much further ahead in our understanding of ME/CFS than we were 20 or 30 years ago. People are still chasing the supplement or the practice that will be the key to some small improvement, pretty much the same ones that were being tried all those years ago.

Anyway... I'm glad that something she told you helped you.
 
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