NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Central Auckland is bearing the brunt of the rain this morning, MetService says.

Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island (until 2pm), Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō (until 6pm), Bay of Plenty (until 11pm) and Tongariro National Park (until 10pm).

MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said all those areas had received a “decent amount” of rain overnight.

It was heaviest in Auckland, particularly in the central city, he said.

“Some stations in Auckland have recorded about 15.5mm of rain in the period of an hour, some even as high as 21mm of rain,” he said.

There was a possibility of flooding with that amount of rain, Magwala said.

The band of rain would move eastwards throughout the day, easing before another band was due to ramp up again in the afternoon.

Gisborne was not under a weather warning, but the rain was heading that way later this afternoon, he said.

After Wednesday, high pressure would begin to build, Magwala said, “giving us some more settled weather for a couple of days”.

Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune, as well as Taranaki are also under heavy rain watches until Wednesday.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Health NZ says another 10,000 people have been immunised against measles, but experts warn more coverage is needed to help those with immune deficiencies.

The National Public Service’s Nikki Canter-Burgoyne said 10,847 people were vaccinated against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) last week.

It comes after an immunisation drive earlier this month which saw an extra 15,000 people vaccinated.

There are 19 confirmed cases in the current measles outbreak.

“It’s heartening to see continued interest in people protecting themselves and their tamariki from measles a week after Immunisation Week finished,” Canter-Burgoyne said.

The national childhood vaccination rate in New Zealand is at 82.6 percent. Coverage of 95 percent in the community is required to prevent outbreaks and protect populations, The World Health Organisation said.

Health New Zealand also has the target of 95 percent of two year olds being fully vaccinated.

Dr Nikki Turner, from the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said it was vital to reach community immunity when some people couldn’t get the vaccine.

She said as a live vaccine, MMR could pose risk for those with significant immune deficiencies, including people on medications for Crohn’s disease, arthritis, people undergoing chemotherapy, or those with HIV. It also cannot be given to those who are pregnant.

“MMR is what we call live attenuated, so it doesn’t cause measles, but when you give the vaccine it can replicate inside you, so that if you have a significant immune problem, it can replicate quite vigourously inside you, and cause what looks like measles.”

Turner said those with immune deficiencies were at higher risk of developing severe complications from measles – including pneumonia, brain inflammation or death.

“We do not want these people to get measles.”

Associate professor Andrew Harrison, medical director at Arthritis New Zealand, said this was an issue for a significant proportion of the population.

“I know it’s caused a fair amount of concern”.

He said a decision needed to be made on a case by case basis for patients with arthritis who did not have immunity to measles.

Harrison said the MMR vaccine could be given to people with certain lower-level treatments for inflammatory arthritis, whereas advice for those on heavy immunosuppressants – such as TNF inhibitors – was that they stopped medications if they needed the vaccine.

“If they carry on with their treatment – the risk is that the live vaccine will expand and proliferate in their bloodstream and tissues, and cause an infection, which can be harmful.”

He said guidelines differed between Health NZ’s Immunisation Handbook and guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology.

“The best approach is to tailor the advice for the individual patient according to their circumstances, and to balance the risks of developing measles against the risk of vaccine-related syndrome.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fifty tiny, yellow songbirds have been released in a corner of Mount Aspiring National Park that hasn’t heard their chirps in years.

Conservationists hope the at-risk mohua can set up a new foothold in the Matukituki Valley, west of Wānaka, after years of intensive predator-control work by passionate locals.

Also called yellowhead, the birds were once among the most abundant species in South Island forests in the 1800s, but now number fewer than 5000.

To revive the population, the Department of Conservation has seeded populations on predator-free offshore islands, then returned small groups to carefully managed mainland sites.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary Matukituki hub co-ordinator Scotty Bewley said the valley’s new arrivals were delivered by helicopter from Anchor Island in Dusky Sound on 14 October.

“It just gives the species the opportunity to hopefully rebuild itself in a natural environment to become stronger, to become more resilient to the challenges that we face as the world changes and for people to enjoy them in multiple areas,” he said.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary staff carried out a census last week to see how the newcomers had settled and spotted a dozen birds across three sites – a result Bewley described as heartening, after a stretch of stormy weather.

“For 12 birds to be found in the first census over two days is quite encouraging,” he said. “It shows that the birds have survived through a pretty turbulent weather period, but also stayed in the area and haven’t found the need to vacate.

“They’ve found suitable habitat.”

For Bewley, watching three mohua flitting around the forest canopy on Monday near Cascade Hut, a kilometre from the release site, was a particularly special moment.

“It’s fantastic for the Mohua Recovery Group and the Department of Conservation to feel as though they can be released here,” he said.

“They’re a beautiful native bird. They were here at one point and now we have the opportunity to enjoy them again.”

Years of community work

Much of the Matukituki Valley’s predator control has been driven by locals, who refuse to watch their backyard fall silent.

Geoff Marks, a trustee with the Matukituki Charitable Trust, said residents noticed kea numbers slipping in 2013 and felt compelled to step in.

“Derek and Gillian Crombie, who set up the trust, walked into a Department of Conservation office and said, ‘What can we do to help?'” he said.

“While the translocation of mohua was never an original objective, we were hopeful that one day we might be able to translocate other species.

“This is just the culimnation of incredibly hard work by lots and lots of volunteers, and many, many hours of getting sweaty in the hills, and coming home stinking of dead rats and stoats.”

Southern Lakes Sanctuary came on board in 2021, helping co-ordinate the valley’s work, as part of a wider regional effort.

Bewley spent hours each week on steep trap-lines, testing new devices for rats, stoats, possums and feral cats.

Nearly 1000 traps are scattered across the valley, he said, from experimental stoat designs backed by Predator Free NZ to AI-enabled devices that powered down, whenever a curious kea hopped too close.

Many of the traps were on Mt Aspiring Station, which covered much of the valley floor.

Co-owner Sally Aspinall said letting conservation groups in was an easy decision.

“Getting rid of pests and predators is beneficial for everyone,” she said. “This is a special place.

“We farm it, but we want it to be in a better state when we leave it than when we arrived.”

Kererū numbers had surged in recent years, Aspinall said – she counted 22 in a single paddock not long ago – and birdlife in general had become noticeably more present.

“They’ve done a good job. We’ve definitely been noticing a lot more birdlife around the farm.”

A previous success story

Conservationists hoped the mohua would follow the same trajectory as the South Island robin.

Twenty-two robins were released into the valley in 2008 – that population had since ballooned to about 500.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary chief executive Paul Kavanagh said this year’s beech mast meant even more vigilance was required.

“We’ll be ramping up protection work, because with a beech-mast also comes an increase in rats and stoats,” he said. “This work has to continue in perpetuity to make sure they’re safe.

“It’s one thing getting the birds returned to that area, but now we have to make sure they’re as safe as possible.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A nursing student says he’s “disappointed, but not surprised” by delays in announcing job offers to graduate nurses.

Graduating student nurses were notified on Tuesday they would not hear results of job applications the following day as expected.

Applications for jobs were made through the Advanced Choice of Employment (ACE) process, which matched nurses to positions in the health system.

An email sent to students sitting their final examinations this week said job offers would be pushed back to 28 November.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but the extra time will be used to consider additional positions across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora,” ACE organisers wrote.

National Student Unit (NSU) chair Davis Ferguson said he was excited to find out on Wednesday where he might be placed when he started work.

He said he was aware of controversy surrounding Health NZ plans to hire more graduate nurses on part-time hours, but had to hope that the health agency was acting in good faith.

“It’s a very powerless situation, because I can’t have any control over how many jobs there are going to be in nursing, so you’ve got to take it at face value,” Ferguson said. “There’s nothing you can really do about it.”

He said watching the changes in the health system had “been a rollercoaster” during his last three years of study.

“From when I first started – hearing students are pretty much guaranteed a job – to this year, where only 45 percent of nursing graduates got jobs in the mid-year intake.”.

He said the state of the health system had “strengthened my resolve” to make a difference in his future role.

“We go into nursing, because we want to help.

“I think it’s made a lot of people disheartened and more likely to go over to Australia, or seek other employment in places that they never considered, but I think everyone is doing the best they can at the moment.”

He hoped any additional positions uncovered in the delayed process would offer enough hours to properly support the nurses.

“I hope this delay leads to better quality jobs for nursing graduates. We’re wanting to be looked after by good quality jobs, so we can be the best nurses for our patients.

“Making sure that new grad nurses can put food on their table and a roof over their head, so we can provide a quality healthcare for our New Zealand public.”

Health New Zealand people, culture, health and safety executive national director Robyn Shearer would not comment on the reasons behind the delay.

She said the organisation was committed to “assisting graduate nurses into jobs across the health system”.

Shearer said HNZ was working to place as many graduates as possible into employment.

“We expect to be in a position to make offers by the end of this month.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand