COVID-19

A YouTube spokeswoman said the videos contradicted vaccine information from the World Health Organization (WHO) or health authorities such as the NHS.

In October, it banned vaccine misinformation in a bid to clamp down on attempts to discredit the jabs.

It added that in the past year, it had removed more than 800,000 videos for coronavirus misinformation.

That figure covers more than just vaccines, but wider "medically unsubstantiated" claims about the virus.

Government ministries and the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry are working together to develop the support measures.

The measures will build on the Economic Stabilization Payment (ESP), the Small and Medium Enterprises grant (SME), school fee subsidy, commodities subsidy and shipping subsidy, which were implemented in 2020.

So far over VT 1.5 billion worth of payment support has been provided.

Once the recommendations have been finalized and endorsed by the Council of Ministers, support measures will be rolled out.

Some of the measures are:

Czech authorities on Tuesday sent the first patient abroad for treatment in Poland as facilities struggled to cope.

In Hungary, meanwhile, the number of cases in the current wave has surpassed the previous peak in December.

Schools and most shops were closed on Monday amid rising infections.

Cases are also on the rise in Poland, where the government recorded the highest number of daily cases since late November on Wednesday, with 17,260 new infections. A health ministry spokesman complained of "increased looseness" among Poles towards anti-Covid measures.

The 2020 report collates all responses gathered across the first 9 surveys conducted between May and December last year, from all major industries across 16 Pacific countries.

The first infection was reported on Saturday in a school principal who had left mandatory quarantine weeks ago after returning a negative test result.

His case appears to be linked to a simultaneous community outbreak in New Caledonia which went into a lockdown at midnight after recording its first nine community cases.

The authorities in Wallis now report 19 cases in total, including the first on the island of Futuna.

Passenger air traffic has been suspended.

He said the last official figures for Papua New Guinea's autonomous region of Bougainville were 40 cases of the coronavrius - a rise from just three last Thursday.

Toroama said Bougainville's health officials had been trying to convince people to wear masks, wash their hands and maintain social distance.

There had been criticism of Bougainvilleans failing to respond to the Covid-19 surge but Toroama said Buka town would now go into a full, 14-day, lock down.

Revenues slipped $3m to $175m due to a drop in advertising.

But the state-owned broadcaster said it experienced “positive audience and revenue momentum” in the final quarter of last year which had continued into the new year.

Because of that, it expected to “significantly exceed” its financial forecasts for the full year to the end of June.

The company’s profit was up from just under $16m in the same period in 2019, thanks to a $33m drop in costs, almost three-quarters of which was attributable to lower spending on content because of Covid.

The president of the City Centre Women in Business said their members were one of the first to come into contact with tourists, which poses a risk for contracting Covid-19.

Marie Rose Marango said the association had over 60 women and they sold their products in the centre of Port Vila, which was popular with visitors.

Marango said there had been no awareness by health authorities regarding future visitors to the country.

During this afternoon's 1pm press conference, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed the new community case was a student at Papatoetoe High School.

The school now remains closed until further notice.

The person is considered a casual-plus contact who had been advised to self-isolate and get tested, the ministry said in a statement earlier today.

Hipkins said the student had not returned to school on Monday. The case was picked up by testing of all students and staff before they were able to return to school.

Cabinet met this afternoon to decide whether the risk of Covid-19 spreading has diminished enough for Auckland to move to alert level 1.

Eight cases that had recently emerged had all been linked and close contacts of the mother of a family at the centre of the outbreak had all produced negative results, she said.

Cabinet had decided to make face coverings mandatory in all public transport across NZ at levels one and two.