Cook Islands
| Use attributes for filter ! | |
| Capital | Avarua District |
|---|---|
| Population | 17,379 (2016) |
| Spoken languages | : English (86. 4%); Māori (76. 2%); Other (8. 3%); |
| Points of interest | Muri Beach |
| Muri Lagoon | |
| Te Vara Nui Village | |
| Currencies | New Zealand dollar, Cook Islands dollar |
| Date of Reg. | |
| Date of Upd. | |
| ID | 864152 |
About Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a nation in the South Pacific, with political links to New Zealand. Its 15 islands are scattered over a vast area. The largest island, Rarotonga, is home to rugged mountains and Avarua, the national capital. To the north, Aitutaki Island has a vast lagoon encircled by coral reefs and small, sandy islets. The country is renowned for its many snorkeling and scuba-diving sites.
The science behind the Fukushima waste water release
... The Pacific Islands Forum Chair and Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, like the IAEA, says he believes it " meets international safety standards"...
Pacific Islands: Biden's no-show takes shine off US pact
... " It is going to be a disappointment for a number of the Pacific leaders who had made special arrangements to be in Papua New Guinea to meet with him, " said Mark Brown, the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and leader of the Pacific Islands Forum in a BBC interview...
Zelensky dominates summit as G7 leaders call out China
... Besides addressing key topics such as nuclear non-proliferation and climate change, their joint final statement talked about their commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, which they tried to demonstrate by inviting countries such as Indonesia, India and the Cook Islands...
G7 summit: Why there are eight more seats at the table this year
... So Mr Kishida, who is seeking a more global rather than Western coalition, has extended the table to accommodate Australia, India, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Comoros (representing the African Union) and the Cook Islands (representing the Pacific Islands Forum)...
Cook Islands braces after Covid-positive traveller
...The Cook Islands is bracing for its first coronavirus cases after a visitor to the country tested positive...
Coronavirus trip: The last cruise ship on earth finally comes home
... rely on the cruise money, but she asked finally, the national government of the Cook Islands - to ban all cruises...
How a wrong injection helped cause Samoa's measles epidemic
... Why is Samoa hit so hard? Vaccination rates - meaning the number of young children covered - recently in Samoa, compared to 99% in nearby Nauru, Niue, and Cook Islands...
Climate change: 'Invest $1. 8 trillion to adapt'
... Better weather monitoring and a simple app for fishing communities in the Cook Islands, for example, allows them to plan according to the sea conditions Infrastructure: Building better roads, buildings and bridges to suit the changing climate...
How a wrong injection helped cause Samoa's measles epidemic
Authorities warn that children are particularly At Risk from the disease
The Number of people killed in Samoa's measles outbreak has reached 53, with almost 4,000 cases reported in total.
Health Ministry statistics below the age of five.
Although measles deaths worldwide have fallen sharply since the 1960s, The World Health Organization has warned of a comeback around The World since 2017.
Samoa's low vaccination Rates are in part due to the deaths in 2018 of Two Children given a wrongly-mixed vaccine.
Measles is a highly contagious illness that causes coughing, rashes and fever.
Although effective and safe vaccination is available, even some developed countries have seen a
The Rise is - in part - due to some parents shunning vaccines for philosophical or religious reasons, or concerns, debunked by medical science, that vaccines are linked to autism.
How bad is the Samoa measles outbreak?On Monday, The Pacific island nation said the overall number of cases stands at 3,728.
The Number of new cases recorded on Sunday and Monday alone was 198.
The country, with a population of around 200,000, declared a state of emergency on 20 November.
Most public gatherings have been banned and schools and universities have been closed.
"The Situation has a tremendous impact on everybody," Sheldon Yett, Unicef representative to The Pacific , told the BBC.
"People are nervous, people are seeing the impact of this disease. Samoa is a very Small Country and Everybody Knows somebody who's been affected by this. "
Since The Emergency declaration last month, a mass vaccination campaign has got under way, with More Than 58,000 people successfully vaccinated,
The epidemic has also seen a surge in alternative medicines touted as cures. Some reports suggest vitamin products or alkalised water are being sold as treatment.
Why is Samoa hit so hard?Vaccination Rates - meaning The Number of young children covered - recently in Samoa, compared to 99% in nearby Nauru, Niue, and Cook Islands .
In part, that low rate has been attributed to the deaths of Two Children .
In July 2018, two infants died in Samoa after receiving vaccinations against measles, mumps and rubella, raising local fears over the vaccine itself.
But the deaths were later established to have been due to The Nurses mixing the vaccine with an expired muscle relaxant, instead of water.
The two nurses pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were.
"We have to make Clear that vaccines are perfectly safe," Mr Yett said.
"These deaths were due to Human Error . But the fact that you had Two Children die on the same day in the same institution, obviously caused a great deal of distrust towards the Health System and towards vaccinations.
"It provided the perfect opening for people who wanted to spread misinformation and lies. "
'Lies and misinformation'Aid from the US, New Zealand and Australia is helping local health authorities in Samoa to drive the mass vaccination.
But The Key message from the current crisis, said Mr Yett, is that parents should vaccinate their children.
"People who are spreading lies and misinformation about vaccinations are killing children," he said.
"The Best way to keep children safe is to make sure they're immunised. Preventing vaccination and presenting false information kills children. That is Clear - The Evidence speaks for itself. "
Ideally, every country should have an immunisation level of above 90%, he said.
Samoa's fellow Pacific island nations Tonga and Fiji have also declared states of emergency to tackle their measles outbreaks.
However, both countries have far higher vaccination Rates and have so far not reported any deaths.
The global surgeWorldwide, The Number of cases compared with the same time last Year , according to The World Health Organization (WHO).
Before the introduction of a vaccine in 1963, "major epidemics occurred approximately every 2-3 years and measles caused an estimated 2. 6 million deaths each Year ", according to The Who .
Numbers of measles cases were steadily declining worldwide until three years ago, when the illness saw a resurgence.
Earlier this Year , The Who said four European countries, including the UK, were no longer seen as measles-free.
It is estimated that a global total of 110,000 people die from measles each Year .
measles, vaccination, asia, anti-vaccination movement, samoa
Source of news: bbc.com
