Tahiti again struggling with Covid-19

[Daddioppp]

Sadly, there has been another surge of Covid-19 in Tahiti, and the government is taking steps to limit the spread.

 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/448256/tahiti-gripped-by-new-covid-19-wave

 

[canadianbear]

Oh no 😒   This is sad to hear.  

[Mercruiser]

Humans sure like to behave in ways that undermine their own good: "Despite an abundance of vaccines, only about a third of the population has been inoculated, with officials warning almost 80,000 doses risk expiry by October."

[Tahitianbigkahuna]

News always makes it sound the worst they can  ....

 

70% of the older population has been vaccinated ... whereas only 30% of the younger population (over 12).

Plus they just had Heiva which created large groupings ...

Hopefully things stabilize over the coming weeks. This last week the younger population has been actively getting vaccinated 🙂

[TakingFlight]

I am starting to get very nervous about our trip to Tahiti. We depart LAX on 8/22. Covid cases are rising dramatically and yesterday the US State Department Travel Advisory was increased from Level 1 to Level 3 “reconsider travel”. It remains to be seen if French Polynesia will continue to allow vaccinated tourists into the country and if the cruise lines (Windstar in my case) will be able to continue to sail. I need a bit of encouragement at this point.

[Petoonya]

I would love to give some encouragement, but sadly the stars seem a little out of alignments for you. If I were going I'd estimate my chances at about 60/40 that I'd be able to go, but what do I know? Nothing.

 

If I were to give advice on how to deal with it I'd suggest deciding with your whole person that the cruise will GO FORWARD, and not let the nagging doubts enter my mind for the next week. I'd rather have a big disappointment than deal with the anxiety.

 

Sending you positive thoughts that YOU WILL GO and that it will be wonderful.

[TakingFlight]

Thank you for all the positive vibes, Petoonya.  I can always count on you! By nature I do worry about all the big things and all the little things, too. I am astounded by the number of new covid cases that French Polynesia is experiencing daily so expect that some modification of the tourism policy will be forthcoming. Nevertheless, I have done everything I need to do on the front end for this trip so I will attempt to clear my mind and take what happens one day at a time. I have my flights, cruise, hotel reservations, tours and shore excursions, my French Polynesia Vaccine Health approval and my ETIS approval AND my covid antigen test scheduled at LAX.  After double checking everything today it's time to let it rest and just go with the flow.

[Shooz]

On 8/7/2021 at 8:10 AM, Petoonya said:

I would love to give some encouragement, but sadly the stars seem a little out of alignments for you. If I were going I'd estimate my chances at about 60/40 that I'd be able to go, but what do I know? Nothing.

 

If I were to give advice on how to deal with it I'd suggest deciding with your whole person that the cruise will GO FORWARD, and not let the nagging doubts enter my mind for the next week. I'd rather have a big disappointment than deal with the anxiety.

 

Sending you positive thoughts that YOU WILL GO and that it will be wonderful.

Petooyna - I think this is great advice! Our cruise isn't until November and I've been really stressed about the Air France flights - this is a good state of mind to be in 🙂  I may also take matters into my own hands and change my flight to Air Tahiti Nui even though it will cost me ALOT of money but might be worth the peace of mind.

[Petoonya]

@Shooz

They say money can't buy happiness, but sometimes it can buy peace of mind.

I'm not up to date on AF. What's going on with them that's concerning?

[Shooz]

4 hours ago, Petoonya said:

@Shooz

They say money can't buy happiness, but sometimes it can buy peace of mind.

I'm not up to date on AF. What's going on with them that's concerning?

The AF flight actually originates in Paris....Paris to LAX to PPT so because of the US not allowing Europeans in, the flights are being cancelled one month at a time - they just cancelled Septembers and now we have to  wait several weeks to see if they cancel October and if so I would REALLY be nervous about November.  That is the same reason the Air Tahiti Nui is cancelling Flights 7 & 8 through 10/1 but not Flights 101 and 102....

Hubby and I discussed today and decided that we could not put a price on peace of mind and cancelled our fully refundable AF and booked the ATN flight 101 and 102 despite it being substantially more.  Ended up having to go two days earlier to get decent seats but I guess that is an unexpected silver lining 🙂

[Petoonya]

@Shooz

So glad you got a solution to your dilemma. And an extra two days! Yippee!!!

[TakingFlight]

French Polynesia is now at State Department Level 4: Do Not Travel. Oh my.

[dandee2]

News from https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/polynesie/point-covid-19-confinement-le-dimanche-a-tahiti-et-moorea-et-couvre-feu-de-21h-a-4h-dans-toute-la-polynesie-1078240.html
 

So it was decided from this Wednesday August 11 midnight:

Prohibition of sporting events and cultural meetings: sporting practices will nevertheless remain authorized in schools. The practice of indoor sport should also be regulated. Details will be communicated shortly on this subject.

As announced two days ago, the curfew will come into effect this evening at midnight throughout the Polynesian territory from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.: all the archipelagos are concerned. all outings will be prohibited, unless there is a professional medical reason. The certificates are available at the High Commission.

The curfew will be completed in Tahiti and Moorea by confinement on Sunday: however, travel for essential shopping will be authorized. Shuttles between Moorea and Tahiti will also always be possible. Access to the beaches will also be prohibited on Sundays.

Travel to the islands will be more controlled: a vaccination certificate or negative test will be required for all travel.

Regarding entries into the territory: "The virus is not spread because of tourists, but between residents, announced Dominique Sorain. The control of travelers is maintained. What changes is that self-tests will be distributed on D-0, instead of being performed by health personnel.

"The confinement could be extended to other days of the week, added Dominique Sorain", before specifying that 14,000 additional doses of single-dose and multi-dose vaccines would arrive in Polynesia. 45,000 tests will also be delivered this week and 12 state-certified nurses specializing in resuscitation will be in Polynesia from next week.

 

On the economic front, a meeting is planned with business leaders. The High Commissioner finally solemnly called for vaccination based on this information: more than 90% of patients in intensive care are not vaccinated. Those who died were not vaccinated.

 

 

[dandee2]

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&u=https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/polynesie/confinement-du-23-aout-au-6-septembre-pour-toutes-les-iles-de-la-societe-1084144.html