COVID-19

Minister for Health, Dr. Saia Piukala said, “That will help in the work that Health staff are doing in tracing those who are primary or close contacts of those who are positive. That will be a great help in the work to trace those who might get sick as contacts.”

Dr. Piukala thanked Australia for the continuing assistance given to Tonga in the current Covid-19 campaign, with 55,000 doses of Pfizer from Australia arriving last the week.

There have not been recent public revelations of the numbers of Covid cases and deaths, but at least 639 fatalities have been recorded.

From today the need for booster shots to reach fully vaccinated status are dropped - two doses will suffice.

People arriving by boat, including cruise ships, will no longer require tests within 72 hours of boarding, but they have to be fully vaccinated and will be tested on arrival.

People arriving by air, internationally or domestically, must be fully vaccinated unless they are PNG citizens or permanent residents.

This takes the total number of cases since January to more than 9,000.

There have been 120 deaths related to Covid infections, according to the Ministry of Health and Medical Services.

Last weekend's match against Moana Pasifika was postponed as they were unable to field a side because of the virus.

There is a chance that this weekend's game against the Chiefs in Wellington will be pushed back a day until Sunday.

The game is scheduled for Saturday night, but the Hurricanes coach assistant Chris Gibbes said there are discussions about delaying it a day.

"From our perspective having an extra day with the game on Sunday would be massively beneficial for us so hopefully we can get that across the line.

It's been a tough week for the franchise, with Hurricanes Poua also forced to withdraw from their inaugural Super Rugby Aupiki match also because of Covid-19.

"We obviously wanted to play, and I really feel for the staff and players," Hurricanes chief executive Avan Lee said.

"We are also disappointed for Moana Pasifika who have already had to deal with this situation twice this season."

There are currently 678 active cases and they are all in isolation.

The total number of cases is 1002.

According to the ministry, 324 cases have recovered.

Vaccination rates are high with 97 per cent of the eligible population receiving the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The ministry said 89 per cent have taken their second jab and 40 per cent have received their booster shot.

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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).

The Health Department reported last night that confirm cases stand at 63.

The federal team, which will number more than 50, will include representatives of FEMA, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Health and Human Services, and other federal partners.

The Health Department's Dr Aifili John Tufa said the request for assistance was made right after the first community case was recorded on Monday.

The team will help with vaccinations, treatment of Covid-cases at the Department of Health clinics, training and help supplement medical staff.

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.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that 24 of the total cases were recorded on Tuesday and 11 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.

MOH said of the 35 Covid-19 cases recorded, 10 were in the Central Division; three were recorded in the Western Division, four cases were recorded in the Northern Division, and 18 were recorded in the Eastern Division.

The Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong said the public should be wary of efforts to remove all public health measures too soon.