COVID-19

The total represents 67.4 per cent of the eligible population in that age group.

Vaccinations for children aged between five and 11 started last week with the roll out targeting schools.

The ministry has suspended vaccination for those aged 12 years an above as they prioritise children between five and 11 years.

According to officials figures released by the ministry, as of yesterday (Thursday) 16 March, a total of 25,935 children between the ages of 12 and 17 years have been administered the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

This takes the total number of cases since January to more than 9,000.

There have been 120 deaths related to Covid infections, according to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Last weekend's match against Moana Pasifika was postponed as they were unable to field a side because of the virus.

There is a chance that this weekend's game against the Chiefs in Wellington will be pushed back a day until Sunday.

The game is scheduled for Saturday night, but the Hurricanes coach assistant Chris Gibbes said there are discussions about delaying it a day.

"From our perspective having an extra day with the game on Sunday would be massively beneficial for us so hopefully we can get that across the line.

At the beginning of the week the Samoa Government commenced its campaign to vaccinate for 5 -11 year old children, to which the Ministry of Health requested assistance from Peace Corps Samoa’s medical team.

The Peace Corps medical team consists of Dr. Sarah Brown, Dr. Sheila Pierce and Nurse Joyce Collins.

The health worker was part of a health team that swabbed passengers who arrived on a flight from Auckland last Sunday.

A statement said the all the passengers and frontline workers were tested yesterday after their sixth day in quarantine.

The results came back last night with one new positive case.

The case has been transferred to the isolation ward at Motootua and is well and asymptomatic.

The health worker returned a negative test result on the third day of quarantine.

There are now 13 Covid-19 cases in managed isolation.

TV1Samoa reports the Acting Director General of Health, Tagaloa Robert Thompsen, saying the Ministry is finalising details but next month will mark 12 months since the vaccinations started.

Tagaloa said a lot of time has gone into administering the vaccines but the ministry has a lot of other work to be done.

He said they are now targeting April 14 as the last day for people aged 18 and over to be vaccinated with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

It's been a tough week for the franchise, with Hurricanes Poua also forced to withdraw from their inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki match also because of Covid-19.

"We obviously wanted to play, and I really feel for the staff and players," Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee said.

"We are also disappointed for Moana Pasifika who have already had to deal with this situation twice this season."

It is one of Samoa’s picturesque waterfalls which attracted tourists and locals alike prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Visitors pay an entrance fee which helped maintain the site as well as support the village.

Before the closure of borders and the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, a village committee cleaned the waterfall and its surroundings every Mondays.

In an interview with the media recently, one of the village chiefs, Mataafa Upuia said this was the village’s main source of income until the borders closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said there are also 344 cases in hospital and five in ICU.

The cases in hospital are in Northland (5), North Shore (53), Middlemore (128), Auckland (100), Tauranga (11), Taranaki (1), Waikato (28), Canterbury (4) Southern (4), Hutt Valley (6)Capital and Coast (3) and Tairawhiti (1).

The Health Department reported last night that confirm cases stand at 63.

The federal team, which will number more than 50, will include representatives of FEMA, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal partners.

The Health Department's Dr Aifili John Tufa said the request for assistance was made right after the first community case was recorded on Monday.

The team will help with vaccinations, treatment of Covid-cases at the Department of Health clinics, training and help supplement medical staff.