COVID-19 cases

Australia and several other countries are sending crucial supplies to Tonga in the wake of last week's huge volcanic eruption and tsunami, but the Pacific Island nation is determined to remain Covid-free and has insisted that all donors deliver aid without any person-to-person contact. 

Australia has already sent supplies to Tonga on military transport planes, but HMAS Adelaide is carrying larger quantities of aid, including engineering equipment, water and shelter.

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.

The personnel who tested positive are "well and asymptomatic", FRU chief executive John O'Connor said, adding that the men's and women's teams were still hoping to compete in the following round in Seville from Jan. 28-30.

"Taking in consideration that the entire team are primary contacts ... teams have moved into the mandatory seven days isolation," O'Connor said.

Fiji's men's side, who defeated New Zealand to retain their Olympic Rugby Sevens gold in Tokyo last year, are sixth in the standings, while the women's team are second, four points behind leaders Australia.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that 368 cases of the total were recorded on Sunday and 93 in the

24 hours ending at 8 am on Monday.

MOH is still yet to release their latest update from yesterday.

Fiji has also recorded five deaths from Covid-19 in its latest update.

The first Covid-19 death is of a 63-year-old female from Tavua, who died on the 6th of this month.

She had significant pre-existing medical conditions and was fully vaccinated.

The second is of a 75-year-old unvaccinated man from Nausori.

Tasmania has also reported its first case, after the border to the rest of the country reopened yesterday.

Queensland has 22 new cases of Covid and 18 of those were detected outside quarantine, Health Minister Yvette D'Ath said.

The local cases spent up to a week in the community and were recorded in Brisbane's south, Brisbane's north, the Darling Downs, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, West Moreton and the Wide Bay.

D'Ath said most were acquired while in another state.

They have been placed in isolation at a hotel near Schiphol airport.

They were among some 600 passengers held for several hours after arrival while they were tested for the virus.

Dutch health authorities said Omicron, labelled on Friday as a variant of concern, was "probably found in a number of people" who tested positive.

Other European countries, including the UK and Germany, have confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

The Government also confirmed eight of the latest cases were recorded in the 24 hours to 8am Thursday.

There are no deaths to report and the toll remains at 694.

Health Secretary James Fong said 17 Covid patients are in hospital, eight in the central division and nine in the west.

"We have recorded 596 Covid-19 positive patients who died from serious medical conditions they had before they contracted Covid. These are not classified as Covid-19 deaths."

In a statement, the Ministry said today's official cases included 142 in Auckland, 17 in Waikato, five in Northland, and one each in the Bay of Plenty, Lakes, and Canterbury DHB areas.

The Ministry said the continued spread of the coronavirus to regions throughout New Zealand was a "reminder that everyone needs to heed the advice that will help keep our communities as safe as possible".

Today's daily case count is the lowest recorded in Victoria since 26 September, when the state recorded 845 cases, 695 of which were local.

There are now 17,518 active cases of the virus in Victoria, and 416 people have died in the state during the current Delta outbreak.

There are 378 people in hospital with the virus, of whom 78 are in intensive care and 48 are on a ventilator.

The health department said a further 71 people are in intensive care, but their Covid-19 infections are no longer considered active.

There was no media conference today. In a statement, the Ministry of Health said 78 of today's cases are yet to be linked, and there are 645 unlinked cases from the past 14 days.

It said 109 of today's cases were in Auckland, with three in Waikato and one in Northland.

There are 74 people in hospital, including five in intensive care. All are in Auckland and the average age is 51.

Today's figures are almost half the record 206 cases recorded yesterday.

There was also one new case detected at the border.