COVID-19

UN officials also say it is likely the pandemic will kill at least 300,000 people in Africa and push nearly 30 million into poverty.

The past week in Africa has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.

There have been almost 1000 deaths and almost 19,000 infections across Africa, so far much lower rates than in parts of Europe and the US.

The UN Economic Commission for Africa - which warned 300,000 could die - called for a $US100bn ($NZ166bn) safety net for the continent, including halting external debt payments.

The general manager of the Apia based Office of Tokelau, Aukusitino Vitale, said "Samoa's response has been a blessing for Tokelau given it's the only window in and out for travellers to Tokelau."

He said his government is also grateful Samoa has given approval for vessels to berth in Apia to load essential supplies for Tokelau.

Mr Vitale said decisions on how to handle Covid-19 were made in Tokelau in mid-March and

one of their actions was to have churches stream their services online with people worshipping at home.

The OFC Executive Committee unanimously approved funding to it's 11 Member Associations to help reduce the impact of Covid-19, with each Association eligible to apply for up to NZ$50,000.

The grant, which is part of the OFC FIFA FORWARD funding, had been designed to cover four key areas, including food and hygiene packets, loss of income, medical allowances and self-isolation costs.

The Solidarity Fund would also provide assistance to those countries that were directly affected by the category five Cyclone Harold during the pandemic.

The Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, in announcing the changes, said the two meter social distancing rule remains, and other state of emergency restrictions should still be adhered to.

From today, ferries between the islands of Upolu and Savaii resume and will only run four times a week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The bigger vessel can only take 60 passengers while the smaller boats can only carry 20 travelers.

Buses can operate in the morning until 5.30pm daily and can only carry 20 passengers.

Dean of Pasifika at the Auckland Medical School, Colin Tukuitonga, who previously headed the Pacific Community, said people can use the isolation to achieve some personal good.

He said given the rampant levels of non-communicable disease in the Pacific, if people were to turn back to their more traditional foods, instead of relying on processed, sweetened, unhealthy imports, the impact could be huge.

Dr Tukuitonga said with borders closed now's a good to reset and look at developing and growing more healthy foods locally.

Earlybird voter Linda Uan said there was handshaking and smiles as voters left the booth in her area.

She was part of a small lineup of less than a dozen voters as the booth she joined opened at 7am this morning.

Ms Uan said despite health warnings all weekend, including recommendations of social distancing and good hygiene, there was nothing different from the last elections.

She said people seemed to be more excited about exercising their right to vote rather than feeling nervous or fearful of the threat of Covid-19.

Samoa ordered a state of emergency three weeks ago, and was the first Pacific nation to enforce border measures in early February. 

One of the reasons for the caution will the memory of the measles outbreak four months ago, which infected 5000 people and killed more than 80 - mainly children under the age of five.

The country's tourism sector has seen more than 4000 job losses so far, and there are no flights in or out of the country, Tagata Pasifika reported.

Jenny McGee, along with Luis Pitarma from Portugal, was praised by the PM for standing at his bedside "when things could have gone either way".

Ms McGee's parents told Television New Zealand they are "exceptionally proud".

They said she treated Mr Johnson like any other patient.

Mr Johnson was discharged from St Thomas' Hospital in London on Sunday, one week after being admitted to be treated for coronavirus. He spent several nights in the intensive care unit where he was given oxygen.

They hope to initially help third-party contact-tracing apps run efficiently.

But ultimately, they aim to do away with the need to download dedicated apps, to encourage the practice.

The two companies believe their approach - designed to keep users, whose participation would be voluntary, anonymous - addresses privacy concerns.

Their contact-tracing method would work by using a smartphone's Bluetooth signals to determine to whom the owner had recently been in proximity for long enough to have established contagion a risk.

The entertainer, best known as one third of the popular 1970s show The Goodies, and I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, died on Sunday.

Goodies co-star Bill Oddie called him a "true visual comic and a great friend".

The third member of the trio, Graeme Garden, said he was "terribly saddened by the loss of a dear colleague and close friend of over 50 years".

"He was a funny, sociable, generous man who was a delight to work with. Audiences found him not only hilarious but also adorable."