COVID-19 case

First Covid-19 case arrives in Aitutaki

The case is an Aitutaki resident, and the person is isolating at home.

Household contacts are currently being identified and are asked to quarantine.

Like Rarotonga, the population on Aitutaki is highly vaccinated and Prime Minister Mark Brown said they are prepared for this.

Over the weekend 24 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 130.

R-A-T tests will be used to diagnose new cases in the Cook Islands as is occurring in New Zealand.

No additional PCR test will be required except for clinical reasons.

     

Samoa reports new Covid case, Omicron variant confirmed

As with all the 27 positive cases, he is also asymptomatic – showing no symptoms, according to a Government notice issued this morning.

This follows administration of the third PCR tests, in which all other specimen returned negative.

“Of the specimen sent to New Zealand for testing, we can confirm that 6 are Omicron variant and 1 is Delta variant,” the notice read.

A national lockdown which was to have ended at 6pm (local time) today has been extended by another 24 hours to end at 6pm tomorrow.  

 

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Covid-19 outbreak sees NBA postpone games

Games against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and the Toronto Raptors on Thursday are off, the NBA said.

The NBA postponed 31 games because of Covid-19 last season.

The NHL - North America's elite ice hockey league - has also called off the next three games of the Calgary Flames because of a Covid-19 outbreak.

Six players and one staff member have entered Covid-19 protocols and the NHL said there was a "likelihood of additional positive cases in the coming days."

Samoa confirms Covid-19 case in MIQ

Director General of Health, Leausa Dr Take Naseri confirmed the case was a 24 year-old man who had travelled from Hawaii via Fiji.

He arrived on the Fiji Airways flight that brought home University of the South Pacific students and Samoans working in Fiji.

He was fully vaccinated and tests indicated he was asymptomatic.

Leausa said he did not show any symptoms of coronavirus.

He is now in a Ministry of Health isolation facility.

Leausa confirmed no other passenger tested positive and all are still in quarantine.

 

Wallis and Futuna again imports Covid-19 case

75 travellers arrived in Wallis after spending seven days in pre-departure quarantine in Noumea and returning negative tests.

After their arrival, they were in home isolation for three days after which a further test was carried out when a Futuna resident was found to have Covid-19.

The public broadcaster said the individual has been transferred to hospital.

The territory lost its only external airlink in September when New Caledonia went into lockdown over a fresh Covid-19 community outbreak.

Fully vaccinated COVID-19 case found in New Caledonia quarantine facility

They say the individual, who had arrived from French Polynesia, has been transferred to the dedicated COVID-19 isolation unit of the main hospital in Noumea.

New Caledonia has been COVID-free since it succeeded to suppress a community outbreak in March with a month-long lockdown.

A government statement said the latest discovery doesn't call into question the need for everyone to be vaccinated to limit the spread of the virus.

150 cases as NZ and Australia medics prepare for deployment

One hundred and seventeen cases are from known clusters.

Two cases presented to the Fiji Emergency Medical Assistance Team (FEMAT) field hospital at the Vodafone Arena are under investigation and four cases are under investigation from Totogo police.

Dr Fong said the Colonial War Memorial Hospital cluster has 32 new cases.

"A new cluster has been identified at the Nasese Medical Centre with one new case reported today (Saturday), adding to the six cases already in this cluster.

Covid-19 community case confirmed in Sydney

NSW Health said the Bondi man, in his 60s, worked as a driver and that international flight crew had been among his passengers.

The man visited the Bondi Junction shopping centre in the city's east several times in recent days.

Visitors to Bondi Junction's Event Cinemas on Sunday, 13 June between 1.30pm and 4pm for a screening of Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard which started at 1.45pm were asked to contact NSW Health, self-isolate for 14 days, and get tested.

The man took a saliva test yesterday, which came back positive today.

Cook Islands detects first positive COVID-19 case

The alert level remains unchanged and the risk to public remains low, the government said.

The man who arrived in Auckland from Egypt on May 5, 2021, and tested positive on his Day 0 test when in managed isolation (MIQ) in Auckland, according to a statement issued by Te Marae Ora Ministry of Health.

The Health Ministry said the man was asymptomatic and his test was deemed a historic case. As of Saturday evening, he remains asymptomatic.

According to the Ministry, a historical case means such cases are no longer infectious.

Melbourne Covid-19 case attended football match at MCG sports ground

The Victorian Department of Health tweeted on Tuesday evening that one of the nine positive cases attended the match and was seated in the Great Southern Stand of the ground.

The match was attended by just 23,415 AFL fans despite the AFL allowing the MCG to be up to 85 percent full of its maximum capacity of 100,024 fans.

The news came after restrictions were tightened across Greater Melbourne on Tuesday as authorities scrambled to find the missing link in a fresh outbreak, prompting New Zealand to pause a travel bubble with the state of Victoria.