COVID-19

Thousands of Pacific people have taken the chance to be vaccinated against Covid-19 - with organisers going out of their way to make many events as much fun as possible.

In Onehunga at the Langimalie Supervax Event long queues of cars held occupants waited to be vaccinated, while outside people danced in the streets, waving Tongan flags, and brightening the mood of all those around them.

In Ōtara, while the vibe was more chill, long lines still snaked slowly around the MIT carpark as large numbers waited for their doses.

This was confirmed by the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri, at a news conference, where he added that the Delta variant has an incubation period of 28 days and it can transmit on the first or the last day.

Some 249 passengers who arrived on September 30, and are due to be released next week, will be asked to self isolate in their homes for a further seven days.

Leausa said about 50 people who lived outside of New Zealand had travelled to Samoa on a flight two weeks ago.

Fiatau Pulusi, who was considered a stalwart of the Assembly of God Church of Samoa community, was one of the 386 people who caught the virus as part of the Māngere church cluster. He died in Middlemore Hospital on October 6.

His wife Tagi Pulusi also has COVID-19 and is currently in ICU. Although she was unable to attend Fiatau's funeral, she had a message from her hospital bed.

"I miss you, going to miss you every day. I love you, I love you so much."

Another 63 new cases have been recorded for 12 October.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said in the past seven days, 163 cases were recorded in the central division, 211 new cases in the western division, and 17 new cases in the eastern division.

Fong added that the central division cases constitute 71 percent of the cumulative total cases nationally, with the western division making up 27% and 2% in the northern and eastern divisions.

There are ten COVID-19 deaths reported for the period of 7 July to 12 October, 2021.

People queued for pubs and bars that opened at midnight on Monday specifically for the occasion.

Many others have been enjoying anticipated reunions and visits to the homes of relatives and friends.

Covid rules had banned household visits and travel beyond a 5km (3.1 miles) zone, separating many families.

But most restrictions have now been eased for fully vaccinated people.

People can now share meal together at reopened cafes and restaurants, and visit gyms and other shops. There were long queues for barbers, nail salons and beauticians on Monday.

The Assembly of God Church of Samoa is the focus of the country's largest sub-cluster of the Delta outbreak.

The country's latest victim of Covid-19 was a deacon at the Assemblies of God Church of Sāmoa.

The 50-year-old man died at Auckland's Middlemore Hospital this week after 40 days in intensive care.

His wife is also battling the virus in hospital.

Dr Maryann Heather at South Seas Healthcare in Ōtara said it's been devastating to see the impacts on the families first hand.

Videos that say approved vaccines are dangerous and cause autism, cancer or infertility are among those that will be taken down, the company said.

The policy includes the termination of accounts of anti-vaccine influencers.

Tech giants have been criticised for not doing more to counter false health information on their sites.

In July, US President Joe Biden said social media platforms were largely responsible for people's scepticism in getting vaccinated by spreading misinformation, and appealed for them to address the issue.

But the Health Ministry said the death was caused by a pre-existing medical condition and not by the delta virus.

The Ministry said several HIV patients, diagnosed with Covid-19 in Fiji, were among 36,724 people who had recovered from the coronavirus since March last year.

Fiji received $US272,000 worth of anti-retroviral medicine from the Atlanta Medicare Company Ltd of Thailand on Tuesday.

The UNAIDS agency contributed $US37,000 in air freight costs.

Australia also donated paediatric HIV drugs and freight worth about $US5000.

Ardern announced the changes for people who may need to cross the Auckland boundary at today's media briefing on the Delta outbreak.

There are eight new cases of Covid-19 in the community today and four in managed isolation.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield also spoke at the briefing.

Ardern says from 11.59pm tonight, people will be able to leave Auckland into a level 2 environment if they:

 Both deaths are from the Central Division.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, James Fong said the deaths are being reported now due to the delay in the issuance of the official death certificates.

The death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic is 592 and 590 of these deaths are reported during the outbreak that started in April this year.

Dr Fong added there have been 17 new recoveries to since the last update, which means there are now 13,045 active cases.

There have been 50,737 cases during the outbreak that started in April 2021.