COVID-19 cases

Two Covid-related deaths have also been reported and there are 952 people in hospital, including 19 in intensive care.

The average age of people in hospital is currently 58.

Of the two Covid-related deaths, one was in Waikato and one was in Canterbury. Both people were women aged over 70.

The total number of publicly reported Covid-19 related deaths to date is now 115, the ministry said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the whānau and friends of all those who have died."

The Ministry of Health (MOH), announced the new number of cases at a media conference yesterday afternoon.

MOH also confirmed that 35 new active cases were reported in the last 24 hours, 26 on Efate Island and 9 on Santo Island.

According to the MOH Covid-19 Situation Report, 74 cases are from Port Vila, SHEFA province and 9 cases from Luganville, SANMA province.

MOH has set up a tent as a triage and testing site for people presenting with flu-like symptoms at Vila Central Hospital.

“As of today, only mild cases have been reported.

The change was announced as Vanuatu reported 35 new Covid-19 cases yesterday.

The initial 48-hour curfew period covering Efate and its offshore islands ends at 6pm today.

An amendment order to include 5 other provinces was signed by the Minister of Health, Bruno Leingkone yesterday and published in the Official Gazette.

The Health Emergency Order paragraph 3 “(1A) stated that, A curfew is applied in islands in the SHEFA province and in all the following provinces in Vanuatu, TAFEA province, MALAMPA province, PENAMA province, SANMA province and TORBA province,

The ministry has reported 18,833 new community cases of Covid-19 today, with 597 people in hospitals, including 10 people who need intensive care.

It said 9789 cases reported today were in Auckland, which recorded more than 13,000 cases yesterday, with health authorities in New Zealand's largest city hoping the Omicron wave had peaked.

The Health Ministry reports the victims were a 70-year-old man with underlying medical conditions and an 89-year-old woman who was unvaccinated.

There have been over 2,800 infections recorded across the atoll islands, with 23 new cases reported in the past two days.

The Government has extended its nationwide lockdown for another fortnight since Friday.

Authorities said the lockdown "may be longer should the need arise" due to widespread community transmissions.

Bob Loughman said the new cases were all on repatriations flights, three on a flight from New Caledonia and one on a flight from Australia.

Mr Loughman said samples of the cases will be sent overseas to determine the Covid-19 variant.

He said there is no evidence of community transmission.

The Ministry of Health will test 10 other passengers who came on the Brisbane and Noumea flights to determine their Covid-19 status.

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".

Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said at New South Wales' peak, the state had roughly 3.5 patients hospitalised with coronavirus per 10,000 residents.

By comparison, she calculated the Northern Territory (NT) now had roughly 6.32 Covid-related hospitalisations per 10,000 people.

Professor Bennett said the territory's high hospitalisation wasn't altogether surprising, considering many people in the NT had a "high risk profile".

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made a national address yesterday saying there are now 2790 cases in the country.

Sogavare said this was within 20 days of the country's first case of domestic transmission of the virus.

He said on Friday alone, health officials identified 430 cases.

Sogavare put the official death toll at 32 but other deaths are believed to have occurred at home.

The prime minister said all but three provinces have reported cases, and transmission was now widespread in the capital, Honiara.

Under the new measures, people have been told to stay at home and social gatherings are banned.

Some 36 people on the flight from Fiji have tested positive. Four people have caught the virus from community transmission.

Until last week, Kiribati had recorded just two Covid cases.

Kiribati is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is some 4,800km (2,980 miles) from its nearest continent, Australia.