COVID-19

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told RNZ's Morning Report one of the new cases is a nurse at Auckland Hospital.

"The health workforce are very well versed and mapping these issues and have done in the past.

We have had COVID-positive cases in our health workforce before. What's different on this occasion is that we have this individual who is fully vaccinated."

Ardern said the four new cases were the workmate of the 58-year-old Devonport man and the workmate's close or household contacts.

Three patients and two staff members at St George Hospital in Kogarah contracted the virus. The hospital is treating all patients in the ward as close contacts.

Dr Anthony Holley, the President of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, said it was very concerning but not unexpected.

"These are the most at-risk patients in many ways, particularly immunocompromised patients that might be found in an oncology ward.

It will come into effect at 17:00 local time on Thursday (07:00 GMT).

The lockdown was called for the whole of the Australian Capital Territory - home to around 400,000 people - because authorities do not know how the infected person caught the virus.

Residents will only be able to leave home for essential reasons.

Queues were reported at supermarkets as the lockdown approached.

Australia is struggling to get on top of the highly infectious Delta strain, which has resulted in two of its largest cities - Sydney and Melbourne - going into strict lockdowns.

  The Fijian side relocated to Australia six months ago to compete in the Ron Massey Cup, after last year's competition was cancelled because of Covid-19.

The Silktails managed six wins, six losses and one draw in 13 matches before the competition was suspended at the start of July, with their last hitout a 26-16 win over Blacktown Workers on 24 June.

The conservative TV network, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has been criticised for promoting conspiracies and questioning public health orders in its broadcasts.

In recent days it has taken down about 30 videos without explanation or making corrections.

Sky News Australia has declined to comment.

But its parent company, News Corp Australia, told local media the network had taken an "editorial decision" to remove the videos.

Although the Fiji National Blood Service has a regular pool of blood donors which kept blood supply sufficient, the current challenges of the country's COVID outbreak is keeping donors away, which is a huge problem for the country's three largest hospitals.

The Fiji Red Cross Society's Neomai Kafoa, who is the focal point for its COVID-19 work, said the situation was so serious that they had 85 volunteers on the phones urging friends and family to donate blood.

The government also confirmed six more deaths including an 18-year-old woman.

That compares with 752 cases and seven deaths in the previous 24-hour period.

Health Secretary Doctor James Fong said of the latest cases, 193 are from the Western Division and 489 cases from the Central Division.

Dr Fong said the latest victims died on 5 and 6 August, with three deaths in the Central Division and three in the Western Division.

He said all but two of the patients were not vaccinated.

The Friends and The Morning Show star said in an InStyle magazine interview published this week that there was still a "large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts".

She added that she had, unfortunately, "lost a few people" from her weekly routine who would not disclose if they had been vaccinated.

One of those people travelling from Moscow had the Delta variant of COVID-19. After they left the plane, staff from the Nanjing Lukou airport swooped in to pick up their rubbish.

According to Chinese officials, when those cleaners exited the aircraft they brought the virus along with them to the outside world - sparking what has now become China's widest outbreak since Wuhan.

In the last few weeks, at the height of the summer travel season, Delta has been detected in at least 16 Chinese provinces and municipalities. Most cases are linked to Nanjing.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor Fong said 11 deaths were recorded between 2 and 5 August, Eight of the deaths are reported in the Central Division and three in the Western Division.

“A 15-year-old girl from Tavua presented to a medical facility in respiratory distress and she was transferred to Lautoka Hospital on 2 August. Her family reported that she had a fever, cough and shortness of breath two days prior to visiting the health centre. Clinical investigations revealed she had both leptospirosis and COVID-19.”