New Zealand

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).

They moved there after thousands of people crossed the harbour bridge on foot yesterday, in a march organised by the Freedoms and Rights Coalition

Camping is not permitted in the Domain, which lies between the suburbs of Parnell and Grafton.

Auckland Council director of customer and community services Claudia Wyss said it was working with event organisers on a safety-first approach.

She said there was no timeline for reopening at this stage and the council apologises for any inconvenience.

Cabinet approved the charter flights at its latest meeting.

There will be four flights to Australia and another four to New Zealand.

The flights to Australia are scheduled to depart Samoa on 1,7,23 and 25 March.

The dates for flights to New Zealand are 8, 15, 27 and 29 March.

The chair of the National Emergency Operations Center Agafili Shem Leo confirmed the change saying Cabinet approves repatriation flights from Aotearoa New Zealand every three weeks.

The next repatriation flight is scheduled for 6 March.

Normal cargo flights continue without inbound travellers and are allowed to take outbound passengers.

Photo Samoa Airport Authority/Facebook  Caption: Faleolo International Airport 

The Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the latest donation to COVAX will also support vaccination programmes in developing countries, including in parts of the Pacific and in Africa where immunisation rates are low.

New Zealand is contributing a further 7.3 million vaccines to COVAX including 5.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.5 million doses of Janssen vaccine.

Through New Zealand's Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) with Pfizer, paediatric vaccine doses are also being provided to countries in Polynesia.

The passengers were swabbed upon arrival, and all returned negative results on Sunday morning.

The National Emergency Operations Centre said the passengers are now in 21 days of quarantine at quarantine sites.

The NEOC said 134 highest risk frontline workers were also quarantined, straight after processing the flight, a new policy measure now in place to ensure minimal threat of the spread of Covid-19 beyond our borders.

The study, which is led by Victoria University, will ask nearly 8,700 people over the age of 16, what it was like to live with Covid-19.     

Pacific team leader Tuiloma Lina Samu is making sure people are able to take part in the survey in many Pacific languages. 

“If you are willing to take part, you can go through an interview with our Pacific researchers to fa’amatala, to go deeper into what you experienced when you went through Covid, as well your family members.”

The event was due to be held from 18-20 March at Western Springs Park and marked the 30th anniversary of Pasifika.

The festival can only be delivered at the orange or green Covid-19 Protection Framework settings.

Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said the cancellation is disappointing but the right call given the risks posed with Omicron spreading rapidly in the community.

Photo PMN News  Caption: Pasifika Festival

Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee co-chair, Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki, said it has been overwhelming to see more than 20 pastors and their wives handing over the goods.

She said the distribution system in Tonga has changed, people can now pick up their barrels via contactless methods from the wharf.

Thirteen Churches were represented by their leaders who offloaded the goods themselves by hand.

Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee spokesperson Jenny Salesa said this is a representation of the hundreds of years of love between Samoa and Tonga.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the new cases are in Northland (16), Auckland (340), Waikato (48), Lakes (13), Bay of Plenty (14), Lakes (13), Taranaki (1), Hutt Valley (7), Capital & Coast (4), and Southern (3).

The ministry said the number of cases would continue to fluctuate from day-to-day but "our expectation is that cases will continue to increase in the coming weeks".