Category: Public Media

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Cook Islands reports first dengue death in current outbreak

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aedes aegypti mosquitos spreading the dengue virus between people, people in the Cook Islands, including tourists, have been warned to take precautions. Supplied/ US Centers for Disease Control

The Cook Islands has reported its first dengue-related death of the current outbreak, amid a significant increase in cases, and reminders to tourists to stay safe.

The country’s health ministry said an elderly patient with underlying conditions had arrived to hospital late in the disease’s progression, and died on 2 February.

Authorities have now announced Operation Namu-26 to raise awareness and promote prevention.

Dengue is a virus passed between people by mosquitos, and Operation Namu-26 will include an increase in insecticide spraying work on the affected islands, as well as a nation-wide clean up to reduce places where water could pool and mosquito eggs could be.

The Cook Islands declared a dengue outbreak in May 2025, and more than 500 cases have been recorded there since.

In New Zealand, 86 people had been reported to have contracted dengue, with 75 of those cases connected to travel to the Cook Islands.

There had been “a significant increase in dengue cases on Rarotonga at the end of December 2025, and again at the end of January 2026”, the Cook Islands health ministry said.

Cases had been found on the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke and Mangaia.

Tourist companies would be providing dengue prevention items to visitors, and spraying on their properties following the ministry’s guidelines, it said.

Anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms, headache, joint or muscle pain, or rash should “seek urgent medical attention immediately …so that timely care can be provided”.

New Zealand clinician and University of Auckland lecturer Dr Maryann Heather recently told RNZ that one in four people infected with dengue get sick.

Symptoms include headaches, pain behind the eyes, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain, skin rash, lethargy, tiredness, and high fever, and can be severe. The disease can be more dangerous for young children and elderly people.

“If you aren’t improving or concerned, you should seek medical attention, especially if you think you have dengue fever after returning from the islands,” Heather said.

“It’s crucial to educate and warn people travelling back to the islands so they are aware that dengue fever is present, especially since it is seasonal.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Table tennis in film – from Forrest Gump to Marty Supreme

Source: Radio New Zealand

Table tennis and film have a surprisingly entangled history. Both depended on the invention of celluloid – which not only became the substrate of film, but is also used to make ping pong balls.

Following a brief ping pong craze in 1902, the game largely disappeared and was widely assumed to have been a passing fad. More than 20 years later, however, the British socialite, communist spy and filmmaker Ivor Montagu went to great lengths to establish the game as a sport – a story I explore in my current book project on ping pong and the moving image.

He founded the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and codified the rules of the game in both a book and a corresponding short film, Table Tennis Today (1929).

Timothee Chalamet makes it hard not to laugh at Marty Mauser’s wildly offensive claims and believable conviction.

Central Pictures / A24

Montagu presided over the ITTF for several decades. In 1925, the same year he founded the ITTF, Montagu also co-founded the London Film Society. The society helped introduce western audiences to experimental and art films that are now considered classics.

The game of table tennis has subsequently appeared at a number of moments when filmmakers and artists were experimenting with new technologies. An early example appears in one of the first works of “visual music”: Rhythm in Light (1934) by Mary Ellen Bute.

Meanwhile, an early work of expanded cinema, Ping Pong (1968) by the artist Valie Export, invited audiences to pick up a paddle and ball and attempt to strike a physical ball against the representation of one moving on the cinema screen. Atari’s adaptation of the game into the interactive Pong (1972) is often considered the first video game.

Perhaps the most familiar cinematic example of all, however, is the digital simulation of a photorealistic ping pong ball – made possible by a then-new regime of computer-generated imagery. It helped Tom Hanks appear to be a ping pong whiz in the Academy-Award-winning Forrest Gump (1994).

There are a number of other fascinating moments in which the game surfaces meaningfully: in Powell and Pressburger’s A Matter of Life and Death (1946), Jacques Tati’s M Hulot’s Holiday (1953), Michael Haneke’s 71 Fragments of a Chronology of Chance (1994), and Agnes Varda and JR’s Faces Places (2017).

And every day for more than two years, from 2020 to 2022, one of the world’s most beloved filmmakers, David Lynch, uploaded YouTube videos in which he pulled a numbered ping pong ball from a jar and declared it “today’s number”. It was a fittingly Dada-esque gesture that stands among the last mysterious works he shared with the world.

Enter Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme. The title sequence alone discovers a new way of visualising the game’s iconography, as we see a sperm fertilise an egg, which then transforms into a ping pong ball (the digital effects first witnessed in Gump are now fully integrated into popular cinema).

Why Marty Supreme is different

Marty Supreme is very loosely based on the real-life player Marty Reisman (here Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet). What sets it apart from earlier cinematic appearances of table tennis is that it centres the game as a sport.

When table tennis has previously appeared in film, it is usually to help show off new special effects or as a brief plot device. Or it frequently appears in the background, helping to furnish the mise-en-scene of an office, basement, or bar. In these instances, we might not notice the game or its materials at all. When it does have a narrative function, it usually occupies a single scene, frequently serving to stage or resolve fraught interpersonal relations between the characters who are playing.

In Marty Supreme, however, table tennis seems neither tethered to special effects nor, certainly, to the game’s “background” status. Chalamet trained extensively over the seven years he spent preparing for the role, even taking his own table to the desert while filming Dune (2021). And despite the film’s sometimes compelling eccentricities, Marty Supreme in many senses follows the generic blueprint of a sports film.

Safdie has made a sports film, coincidentally or not, like his frequent collaborator and brother Benny Safdie, whose wrestling film The Smashing Machine was also released this past year. Marty Supreme, though, revolves around an athlete who plays a game that generally has been assumed to not have enough gravitas to command a place in the genre or to hold an audience’s interest.

The absence of sports films about ping pong certainly speaks to ways in which it is perceived as something not worth taking too seriously, for reasons that are surely at least partially linked to the same reasons for which the game is often celebrated. It is perceived to be what I refer to as an “equalising” sport, open to people and bodies of all backgrounds and types.

As actor Susan Sarandon, who founded her own chain of ping pong bars, puts it: “Ping pong cuts across all body types and gender – everything, really – because little girls can beat big muscley guys. You don’t get hurt; it is not expensive; it is really good for your mind. It is one of the few sports that you can play until you die.”

This perception of the game has perhaps also led it to appear in more comedic contexts, with athletes embodied by actors we might more readily laugh at, as source material for visual and sonic gags, from a slapstick scene in You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man (1939) to the widely panned Balls of Fury (2007).

The tension between the game’s perceived triviality and Mauser’s extreme dedication lends Marty Supreme a vast blank canvas – or ping pong table – onto which its oscillations can be painted, or played… and in turn felt by the audience, with its high highs and low lows.

While it’s great that a talented director has poured his heart into a cinematic treatment of Reisman for the screen, I’m holding out hope for an Ivor Montagu film, which could be even more beholden to its real-life character – and even more wild.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Car fire at Khyber Pass off-ramp jams SH1 in Auckland

Source: Radio New Zealand

A car fire shut down the SH1 Khyber Pass off-ramp in central Auckland, on Sunday 8 February, 2026. RNZ/ Calvin Samuel

A car fire has closed the State Highway 1 Khyber Pass off-ramp in central Auckland.

Just after 2pm on Sunday an RNZ staff member at the scene said the fire appeared to have been put out.

But traffic had backed up, and was crawling from the Ellerslie-Panmure Highway heading toward the city.

Just before 2pm on Sunday the New Zealand Transport Agency published a warning online that the off-ramp was closed due to the car fire. It said drivers should use avoid the area, and use the Symonds Street off-ramp.

A car fire shut down the SH1 Khyber Pass off-ramp in central Auckland, on Sunday 8 February, 2026. RNZ/ Calvin Samuel

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‘Rugby’s not done enough’: New Blues CEO on how to fill stadiums again

Source: Radio New Zealand

Karl Budge, Blues CEO Photosport

Fan-centric, fan first – whatever you want to call it, that’s the buzzword around rugby ever since people started rightfully noticing that there were more than a few empty seats at Super Rugby Pacific games. With the season set to start next weekend, new Blues CEO Karl Budge is on a mission to change that. Although he says that simply because Eden Park isn’t packing out like it did in the 90s, it doesn’t mean people aren’t interested.

“The reality is more people watch Super Rugby than any other rugby competition or any other sports competition in New Zealand,” said Budge, pointing to Sky TV’s broadcast figures from last year. They showed overall growth on 2024’s Super Rugby Pacific audience, including a 15 percent increase for the final between the Crusaders and Chiefs.

“That is the cold, hard evidence. That’s not opinion.”

TV audiences are one thing. Eden Park without an All Black test is another.

Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

Budge comes into the task of attempting to fill the country’s largest stadium with a fair degree of confidence. For nine years he was the CEO of the ASB Classic, turning it from a tune-up event into one of the most well-regarded tournaments for fan experience on the tennis calendar. His view is, somewhat ironically given the obsession with tinkering with rugby’s rules to deliver a faster game, is that whatever happens on the field shouldn’t be the main focus.

“The ASB Classic went from 16,000 people through the gates when I started to 105,000 in my final year. I don’t think we got any more tennis fans.”

Still, Budge admits that there’s no magic bullet to fill seats during Super Rugby Pacific.

“I certainly don’t have the answers yet. I’ve got a lot of listening and learning to do. I think our job as administrators, particularly with this young wave of people coming through, is to stop putting barriers up and go back to doing what rugby was about bringing communities together. 58 percent of people in Auckland weren’t born here, how do we how do we give this a place for them to see pride in their new home?”

Karl Budge Supplied: SailGP

Then there’s traditional fans, who Budge says will be part of the balancing act of making sure new fans are catered for.

“We don’t want to alienate traditional fans. But what we need to do is do their favourite thing with sprinkles on top.”

The last time the Blues filled Eden Park was when they won the 2024 final against the Chiefs. So while it’s easy to think that success will solve things, it’s worth remembering one other Auckland team that is offering popular game day experiences hasn’t won anything in its entire existence. Still, the Warriors and latterly Auckland FC do not pose a threat, according to Budge.

“We had dinner last night, all three of us (Auckland FC CEO Nick Becker and Warriors CEO Cameron George). We get on great guns…we worked together in a lot of other capacities, a real great amount of respect from each other.

“The more people paying to attend live sport, the better it is for all of us. I do not see that we’re in competition with them.”

Warriors team photo with fans after beating Cowboys, NRL Magic Round. NRL Photos/Photosport

It’s worth noting though that filling Eden Park is a significantly bigger challenge than Mt Smart. Budge points to the fact that fans will find pretty much all the amenities at one that exist at the other, however rugby’s historic position as a cultural monolith makes knocking it the easy discourse in both traditional and social media.

“That’s probably where, as an industry, rugby’s not done enough to endear itself to fans. We’ve had a wonderful product. But I think in 2026, product is not enough. You look at the best sporting occasions around the world, the best of indications are very rarely about the core product.”

Budge says that there’s plenty to be learned outside of sports, too.

“How many people traipse halfway around the world to go to Coachella? It’s the experience, it’s the connection being part of the community, seeing yourself there. All of those things are what make those really special. The artists and the music is almost the bonus.”

“This is the first time I’ve worked in a job where we’ve had too much space. (At the ASB Classic) we were always trying to figure out how you manufacture space. We’ve got plenty of it now and I’m excited by that. I think gives us freedom to dream and look at things differently, there’s no question we need a bigger crowd than other stadiums to create an equal atmosphere.”

“But again, we can hide behind that, or we can go do something about it. We’re a city of 1.9 million people, getting to 30,000 people in a in a stadium shouldn’t be a fantasy.”

Budge’s vision is bold, but with a pragmatic edge.

“I think we have to be really open to failure,” he said.

“And frankly, if we haven’t failed, we probably haven’t gone hard enough.”

Tomorrow: Mark Robinson on the challenges facing engaging fans globally.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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3 Doors Down singer Brad Arnold dies after cancer diagnosis

Source: Radio New Zealand

Brad Arnold, a founder and lead singer of American rock band 3 Doors Down, died on Saturday, nine months after disclosing that he had kidney cancer, the group said. He was 47.

Arnold said in a May 2025 social media video that he had been diagnosed with advanced-stage clear cell renal carcinoma that had spread to one of his lungs. 3 Doors Down cancelled their planned 2025 summer tour because of his illness.

3 Doors Down, formed in 1996 in Escatawpa, Mississippi, rose to popularity in 2000 with the Arnold-penned single ‘Kryptonite’, which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Other hits included ‘When I’m Gone’ and ‘Here Without You’, both top-five singles on the Billboard Hot 100. The band has been described as post-grunge, alternative rock and hard rock.

“As a founding member, vocalist and original drummer of 3 Doors Down, Brad helped redefine mainstream rock music, blending post-grunge accessibility with emotionally direct songwriting and lyrical themes that resonated with everyday listeners,” the band said in a statement posted on its official Instagram account.

Arnold died peacefully surrounded by loved ones including his wife Jennifer, according to the statement. The statement did not state where Arnold died.

“Above all, he was a devoted husband to Jennifer, and his kindness, humor and generosity touched everyone fortunate enough to know him,” the band’s statement said.

“Those closest to him will remember not only his talent, but his warmth, humility, faith and deep love for his family and friends.”

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Matt Gibb on why nerves are essential to live TV

Source: Radio New Zealand

Matt Gibb has been on New Zealand TV screens for more than 20 years, debuting on the children’s television show Squirt as a teen and currently guiding city dwellers around beautiful rural homes on the property show Find My Country House NZ.

Although the 45-year-old used to struggle with performance anxiety in the past and could go to pieces at auditions, nowadays, he’s learnt how to cope with nervousness and even enjoy the feeling.

“Nervousness gives you that ability to operate at a level that heightens every sense, I think. And you need that in live TV, because anything can happen, you need to be on your toes… If you’re not at least a little bit nervous, then your brain is not going to give you that ability to fire on all cylinders,” Gibb tells Music 101‘s The Mixtape.

This video is hosted on Youtube.

Guy Montgomery is a big deal in Australia

Gibb started DJing at 18, once thought that would be his career, but improv comedy was a passion too. His first acting gig was with Family Planning, visiting high schools to teach safe sex via songs and skits.

“If you think talking to a 3D animated penguin is hard, try singing songs about sex to an audience full of 17 year olds,” Gibb said in an audition for the Saturday morning children’s TV show Squirt.

“They kind of went,’Oh, he’s got a bit of something, this guy. Let’s try him out’.”

Living in Dunedin while he filmed Squirt, Gibb was a regular at the night club Bath Street, and drove up to Christchurch every second weekend to go to drum and bass gigs and hang out DJing with my mates.

“All my friends were completely under the spell of drum and bass. Coming from Christchurch, there was something in the water. We all collected records. We all had friends with flats, with turntables. We never watched TV.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

After Squirt, he worked on the kids’ show Studio 2 then moved over to U Live – a daily three-hour youth music show that was a launchpad for comedians, including Rose Matafeo and Guy Montgomery.

“I was studio dad, and I loved it, man. It was the most rewarding few years.”

In her audition to be a U Live host, the young Rose Matafeo blew everyone away with her natural humour and strong sense of self. 

“I’ve never met anyone at that age who knew exactly who they were…

“It was so obvious within the first 30 seconds that this was the host of the show. This was now the style of the show. This was the blueprint for what every presenter we needed was going to have to be. It was incredible. She just was breathtaking to watch.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

After U Live, Gibb worked for six years in Sydney as a TV producer for the ABC. In the years since, he’s popped up all over the media landscape, hosting Kiwi Living, Good Morning, the Lotto draw and co-hosting The Breakfast Club on More FM.

“Sixty-five year olds will now come up to me in a cafe and say they love Find My Country House, then their kids might’ve watched Studio 2. I’m trying to tick off every demographic and genre, that’s the idea.”

‘Boy in the Bubble’ by Paul Simon

Gibb’s strongest memory of hearing music in his childhood was on road trips from Christchurch to Nelson. Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland was a constant.

“When I was trying to pick a song from Graceland to kick off this road trip, I was like, it kind of has to be the first track, right? It sets the tone, starts the road trip right, and it’s an amazing song.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

‘Mayonaise’ by The Smashing Pumpkins

“When I have to narrow down the greatest album of all time, for me, I have to go Siamese Dream. I think it’s perfect from start to finish.

“‘Mayonnaise’ represents what I love about that band. The emotion in Billy Corgan’s writing. The light and shade. The classic step down into the pedal.

“It makes me feel everything I felt when I was in my bedroom screaming it when I was 16, 17. And Siamese Dream is an album that has stuck with me since then. I listen to it so regularly. I love it so much.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

‘Heroes’ by Roni Size & Reprazent

“I could have given you 500 drum and bass songs that mean something to me. It was everything to me for a while, especially when I was DJing on bFM every Saturday night or every second Saturday night.

“That first Reprazent album New Forms was different from anything I’d heard before. There was an element of musicality to it that hadn’t really been seen in drum and bass as much at that point.

“This one song stood out to me because it kind of, again, represented the album for me. It wasn’t one or another, it was light and shade. It had a beautiful vocal to it, but it also rolls out in the second half with some little bongos that come in. So it’s dance-floor, but it’s musicality. It’s a period of my life where I was just falling in love with this music.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

‘All My Friends’ by LCD Sound System

“I remember listening to this at house parties at three o’clock in the morning, because it was everywhere. The crescendo it builds to at the end, the tension and then that release…

“I’d moved up from Dunedin. I’m living in Auckland. I’m again finding my community, my people, and even just now thinking about it, it was such a wild, fun, amazing time, and the song just gives me goosebumps every single time I listen to it.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

‘Keep the Fire Burning’ by Gwen McCrae (Dave Lee remix)

Once known by a “problematic” name, Dave Lee is an amazing house DJ, Gibb says.

“I just love his remixes. He just takes classics and just gives them a bit of a sort of a toughening up, basically, for the dance floor. But this song is, for me, an absolute banger, and it has to be played at every house party.

“If I’m ever DJing, this will be in my set at some point, because it just doesn’t fail to get every single person up on the dance floor. It just brings people together. It’s joyous, it’s fun, it’s funky, it’s disco, baby. It’s amazing.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

‘Right Down The Line’ by Gerry Rafferty

“I love this song. Man, I don’t know what else to tell you. This song just follows me around, over the last couple of years, especially, I just keep hearing it in moments that are somehow kind of important to me.

“The reason I’ve chosen it. I’m gonna get all soppy here. It’s a love song. I’ve been together with Jenni for a year and a half now, and honestly, my life is just in this place where I’m just really feeling so, so blessed and happy.

“She’s got a six-and-a-half-year-old, so I’ve got a completely different outlook on life through His eyes. And yeah, the song just, it’s a straight up and down love song, no nonsense, no frills. The lyrics are just so simple and straight. He loves her. She’s there for him. He’s gonna be forever down the line… That’s simple, that’s beautiful.”

This video is hosted on Youtube.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Winter Olympics live updates: Kiwis Lyon Farrell, Rocco Jamieson, Dane Menzies in Big Air snowboard final

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dane Menzies soards in the Winter Olympics Big Air snowbaord final. KUNIHIKO MIURA/AFP

First-time Winter Olympian Dane Menzies has slipped off the podium late to finish sixth in the men’s snowboard Big Air final at Milano Cortina 2026.

One of three Kiwis in the 12-man final, Menzies, 20, sat third after the opening two runs, one of the few with consistent performances across both attempts.

The door was still wide open for those behind him to improve their standings and he was surpassed by NZ-born American Ollie Martin. Italian favourite Ian Matteoli and eventual winner Kira Kimura from Japan.

Needing a big jump to retain his medal hopes, Menzies could not control his landing, faceplanting hard into the hard snow.

“Super stoked, but pretty bummed at the same time, just to not land that last one,” he told Sky Sport. “Only up from here, so I’m happy.

“It was awesome. Definitely, everyone was pretty locked in, but it was nice to have [teammates] there to chill.

“So far, super special and realising this is a big deal. Definitely hungry for more and looking forward to the next.”

Kimura had the best jump of the opening round, but crashed on landing on his second. He responded magnificently with his third, recording the best score of the night and finishing with the two best for a comprehensive victory.

Teammate Ryoma Kimata finished second, while defending champion Yiming Su of China took the bronze medal.

American-born Kiwi Lyon Farrell was the best of the NZ contingent through the opening round, but could not replicate that performance across the second and third, finishing eighth, while Rocco Jamieson was one place back.

All three will return to competition on Tuesday, 17 February (NZT) for slopestyle qualifying.

Follow the live action here:

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Driver asks insurer: How can a 24-year-old car increase in value by two-and-a-half times in a year?

Source: Radio New Zealand

A woman was shocked to discover that her insurance company had increased the value of her car at renewal. 123RF

A woman who was shocked to discover that her insurance company had increased the value of her car at renewal says it is a reminder to people to check what they are agreeing to.

Nicki, who did not want to use her surname, said she had a 2002 Subaru Impreza and a 2012 Suzuki Alto insured with AA Insurance.

But while they were valued at $4000 and $5500 respectively for insurance last year, when it came time to renew this time, the Subaru was proposed to be worth $10,294 and the Suzuki $9600.

She said the maximum excess she was allowed to have had also dropped “massively”.

“We used to be at $2500 per car but the top is now only $1000. I’m unable to get the Subaru’s agreed value reduced back to what it was 12 months ago because they will only insure now for $4375. Allegedly the company feels it must protect us from underinsuring ourselves.”

She was able to reduce the value of the Suzuki.

A higher excess can reduce the premiums that people pay for cover. Nicki was told in an online chat with the insurer that its pricing team had determined $1000 was the most reasonable and accessible amount for customers.

Turners lists a 2009 Subaru Impreza for $5990. A 2014 Suzuki Alto is listed on Trade Me for $5500 and a 2011 model is $4900.

Nicki told the insurer that it was ridiculous that a 24-year-old car would increase in value by two-and-a-half times in a year.

“We cannot be the only ones they’re trying to raise revenue from in these three ways – sum insured increase, excess reduction, refusal to set sum insured appropriately low.”

A spokesperson for AA Insurance said it had recently updated its excess options to ensure that they were “simple and easy for customers to select”.

“Consistent with common industry practice, we rely on an independent third party data provider to provide vehicle values. From time to time, this provider updates their methodology and data sources to ensure the valuations reflect the most accurate and up to date market conditions.

“When this happens, customers may see changes, either increases or decreases, in their proposed agreed values at renewal. We encourage customers to get in touch if they would like to discuss their proposed value or agree on a different value with us.”

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Cook Islands reports first dengue death, amid increase in outbreak

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aedes aegypti mosquitos spreading the dengue virus between people, people in the Cook Islands, including tourists, have been warned to take precautions. Supplied/ US Centers for Disease Control

The Cook Islands has reported its first dengue-related death, amid a significant increase in cases, and reminders to tourists to stay safe.

The country’s health ministry said an elderly patient with underlying conditions had arrived to hospital late in the disease’s progression, and died on 2 February.

Authorities have now announced Operation Namu-26 to raise awareness and promote prevention.

Dengue is a virus passed between people by mosquitos, and Operation Namu-26 will include an increase in insecticide spraying work on the affected islands, as well as a nation-wide clean up to reduce places where water could pool and mosquitos could breed.

The Cook Islands declared a dengue outbreak in May 2025, and more than 500 cases have been recorded there since.

In New Zealand, 86 people had been reported to have contracted dengue, with 75 of those cases connected to travel to the Cook Islands.

A senior health protection officer told RNZ Pacific that New Zealand had also reported 40 suspected cases of dengue since May, in visitors returning from the Cook Islands.

There had been “a significant increase in dengue cases on Rarotonga at the end of December 2025, and again at the end of January 2026”, the Cook Islands health ministry said.

Cases had been found on the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke and Mangaia.

Tourist companies would be providing dengue prevention items to visitors, and spraying on their properties following the ministry’s guidelines, it said.

Anyone experiencing flu-like symptoms, headache, joint or muscle pain, or rash should “seek urgent medical attention immediately …so that timely care can be provided”.

New Zealand clinician and University of Auckland lecturer Dr Maryann Heather recently told RNZ that one in four people infected with dengue get sick.

Symptoms include headaches, pain behind the eyes, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain, joint pain, skin rash, lethargy, tiredness, and high fever, and can be severe. The disease can be more dangerous for young children and elderly people.

“If you aren’t improving or concerned, you should seek medical attention, especially if you think you have dengue fever after returning from the islands,” Heather said.

“It’s crucial to educate and warn people travelling back to the islands so they are aware that dengue fever is present, especially since it is seasonal.”

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Two common phrases that don’t help when a child is in pain

Source: Radio New Zealand

It happens in slow motion. Your six-year-old daughter is sprinting across the playground at school drop-off time when her toe catches on uneven ground. She goes down hard.

The playground goes silent. She freezes and looks up, straight at you. In that split second, she scans your face for data. Should she be terrified?

I’ve been there. I’d like to tell you that my pain scientist brain kicks in immediately. But honestly, it’s usually my panicked parent brain that gets there first. My stomach drops and my instinct is to gasp or rush in to fix it.

Easing children back into movement after an injury teaches them our bodies are designed to heal.

Jayson Hinrichsen / Unsplash

This reaction is typical because we want to protect our kids. However, these moments are opportunities to teach children that their bodies are adaptable. Our reactions teach them whether pain is a disaster to be feared, or a feeling that’s safe to feel.

When adults are the volume knob

Children look to adults and even borrow our nervous system to gauge danger. They read our tone and posture as clues to determine how worried they should feel.

Research into everyday pain shows incidents such as bumps, cuts and scrapes happen frequently. For active toddlers in daycare, they occur about once every three hours. In these moments, adults often respond to the child’s distress, such as crying, rather than the actual severity of the injury.

When we panic, we turn the child’s pain volume knob up. When parents are highly distressed and protective about their child’s pain, it can make children more fearful. They may avoid activity or have more trouble with pain over time.

On the other hand, remaining calm helps children turn the volume down. We teach them that the alarm can be loud without the threat being catastrophic.

Two phrases that can backfire

It’s tempting to try to switch the alarm off immediately. However, two common phrases can shut down a child’s signal for help too quickly.

“You are OK”

It’s a common assumption that pain is only real when there is visible damage. Telling a child they’re fine when they’re clearly hurting can feel dishonest. It suggests their internal signals are wrong.

“Don’t cry”

Crying is a healthy signal for help. Asking a child to suppress it suggests the sensation is too scary to be acknowledged, cutting communication without resolving the underlying feeling of threat.

The internal scan versus the spoken message

A better approach is to separate what you do in your head from what you say out loud. Staying calm doesn’t mean ignoring genuine warning signs. The goal is calibrated concern, which is a middle ground between panic and dismissiveness.

Before saying anything, do a rapid risk scan. If they’re safe, responsive and breathing, you have confirmed it’s not an emergency. (Parents should still watch for red flags such as vomiting, confusion, unusual sleepiness, or pain that worsens rather than improves.)

If the injury is a minor scrape, you can shift to validation: “that looked sore”, “you got a fright”, or “I am here”. You are confirming verbally that they’re safe.

Age matters

Toddlers (2 to 5 years) rely on your facial expressions to know how to feel. Keep words simple and use physical comfort.

Primary school-aged kids (6 to 12 years) may want to be more involved in the solution, such as helping clean a scrape.

Teens can need a mix of validation and space. Ask what they need from you instead of doing everything for them.

From protection to movement

Once the tears settle, the recovery phase shapes the child’s relationship with movement. For years, the standard advice was RICER (rest, ice, compression, elevation, referral). Now, emerging evidence suggests that complete rest may delay healing.

Updated guidelines have shifted to the soft tissue injuries assessment maxim PEACE & LOVE.

PEACE applies immediately: protect, elevate, avoid anti-inflammatories, compress, educate. LOVE follows after a few days: load, optimism, vascularisation (promoting blood flow via cardio), exercise.

The big shift here is optimism and load. This approach teaches children their bodies are designed to heal and guides them back to gentle movement.

Three tiny experiments to try

1. Name it to tame it

Help your child turn a scary feeling into a piece of data. We found that even children without chronic pain have average pain ratings that fluctuate by up to 6 points out of 10 over six weeks. This volatility is typical. For tweens and older, you can ask, “What number is your pain right now on a scale from 0–10?”. This implicitly shows them that pain is changeable and usually drops quickly.

2. Calm, then choose

Your calm nervous system helps soothe theirs. Try getting down to their level and take three slow breaths together. Depending on their age, you can then offer a choice to regain control: “Do you want to sit with me a bit longer or try walking to the slide?”

3. Retell the story later

Research confirms children can change their concept of pain through stories. Later that night, try parent-child reminiscing, which is where you retell the story of the fall together.

Focus on personal strengths: “You were brave. You took deep breaths and then you got back up and played again”. This accurately reframes the memory from “I got hurt” to “I got hurt and I coped”.

Good enough is enough

If you overreacted to a recent mishap, be kind to yourself. Kids benefit from “good enough” patterns where their pain is taken seriously and their bodies are seen as capable.

So, let’s take a breath when bumps happen. Your child is looking at you. You have an opportunity to show them they’re safe and that their capable body knows how to heal.

Joshua Pate is a Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand