COVID-19

In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said oxygen would be released to hospitals from armed forces reserves and retired medical military personnel would join Covid-19 health facilities.

Where possible, military medical infrastructure will be made available to civilians, a government statement said, as new coronavirus infections hit a record peak for a fifth day.

Virologists said more infectious variants of the virus, including an Indian one, have fuelled the resurgence.

The Central Division including the capital Suva is in lockdown effective today for the next 14 days.

A restricted movement order issued on the main island of Viti Levu on Saturday ended this morning.

Authorities have also since separated Nadi and Lautoka which have been in lockdown since a week when it was discovered a soldier had contracted the virus and infected a hotel maid in a breach of protocol.

She is the daughter of the 53 year-old hotel staff worker who worked at a quarantine facility and had tested positive to the virus.

Fiji Sun reports there are now six locally transmitted cases that can all be traced back to the soldier who caught the virus while working in a border quarantine facility.

The new case was announced by the Permanent Secretary for Health, James Fong during a press conference.

The country's coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 6346 on Thursday, health ministry data showed.

The last time Israel reported zero Covid-19 deaths was at the end of June last year, after lockdown measures curbed a first wave of infections.

Israel's outbreak has eased after hitting its peak in January this year.

The Israeli government started to relax lockdown restrictions a month later as vaccinations against Covid-19 were rolled out more widely.

It has close to 16 million confirmed cases, second only to the US.

The country is struggling with a second wave, raising more fears about its overwhelmed health care system.

Crowds have formed outside hospitals in major cities which are filled to capacity. A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen.

Families are waiting hours to perform funeral rites, Reuters news agency reports, with at least one Delhi crematorium resorting to building pyres in its car park in order to cope with the numbers arriving.

A number of people have died while waiting for oxygen, and more than 99% of all intensive care beds are full.

India is in the grips of a second wave of Covid infections and on Thursday recorded the highest one-day tally of new cases anywhere in the world.

The country has recorded close to 16 million confirmed infections.

There have been 314,835 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, while deaths rose by 2,104.

This comes after the government announced two more cases of Covid-19 in the community, two children - one a student - from a settlement in the capital Suva.

Education Minister Rosy Akbar said it is unfortunate that the details of the student were released and are now circulating on social media.

Ms Akbar said the ministry strives to protect the interest of all the children and she reminded the public to be mindful of the sensitivity surrounding this issue.

She urged people to refrain from sharing such confidential information.

It is the first positive test connected to the relay since it began March 25 from northeastern Fukushima prefecture.

Organisers say the 30-year-old policeman was assigned to control traffic on the April 17 leg in southwestern Kagawa prefecture. They said the officer developed symptoms and tested positive the next day. Local health authorities are investigating.

Officials say the policeman was wearing a mask and taking social-distancing precautions and other measures.

Health authorities have described the weekend rites attended by more than 500 people as a potential superspreader event.

They confirmed three new cases late on Tuesday, two of which were soldiers at a managed isolation quarantine facility (MIQ).

The third case reported is a woman in her 30s who is the daughter of a 53-year-old woman who worked as a maid at the same MIQ.

The maid had contracted the virus from a male soldier who authorities now believe had contracted Covid-19 while handling the baggage of two Fijian nationals who returned from India on 10 April.

The association has urged the public who use public transport services to do the same.

The decision was made following the Prime Minister’s announcement about the latest Covid-19 positive case.

A Filipino national whose body was found on a beach over a week ago was tested positive for Covid-19.

Drivers can limit the number of their passengers if they wished to, especially for service buses.

The PLTA has also encouraged owners of public transport operators to keep hand sanitizers in their buses for passengers.