Coronavirus Covid-19

Smokers may also already have lung disease or reduced lung capacity which would greatly increase risk of serious illness.

Smoking products such as water pipes often involve the sharing of mouth pieces and hoses, which could facilitate the transmission of COVID-19 in communal and social settings.

Voreqe Bainimarama said the latest case was the mother of Fiji's first COVID-19 patient who remained in isolation in a stable condition.

The Prime Minister said after the first case was discovered on Thursday authorities moved to identifiy and isolate 11 members of the patient's household.

The group was transported to the isolation ward in Nadi Hospital where all those displaying symptoms were tested for COVID-19.

Mr Bainimarama said the initial patient's mother tested positive, making her the first locally-transmitted case in the country.

The stakeholders met this week and discussed the global spread of coronavirus and the likelihood of Tongan people getting infected due to mass gathering.

A statement said the meeting agreed to postpone the 2020 Secondary Schools’ Intercollege Sports, which was planned to be held 21-24 April until after the National Examinations in November.

Starting Monday, 23 March all Government schools will add an extra hour to their timetable per day, finishing at 4:30pm instead of 3:30pm.

Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, from University of Auckland's medical department says the main things to keep in mind are:

Digicel Tonga CEO, Anthony Seuseu, said, “Digicel understands the importance of keeping our customers, businesses and loved ones connected during times like these and have activated our business continuity plan to ensure that there are no service disruptions during this time. Our employees and customers remain our top priority.”

Seuseu said the company’s Emergency Management Team has been meeting, monitoring and planning for the various possibilities surrounding the coronavirus.

Guam's health department has tested dozens of people since the first cases on the island were confirmed on Sunday night.

Tuesday's cases include a relative of one of those confirmed to have the virus on Sunday, and another person who recently travelled to the Philippines.

All five confirmed cases are in isolation.

Suspected cases

The Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia say they both have one person each under investigation for Covid-19.

As world heads of government continue to grapple with the mounting challenges, Digicel is contributing to efforts to educate the public and stem the coronavirus spread.

COVID-19 is spread mainly person-to-person, through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

At present there is no vaccine, so the best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to the virus.

Here we’ve compiled a list of easy steps to protect yourself and others:

The revelation came after a first test, of sample taken from the same patient, was conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory in Australia last week was negative or non reactive.

As Kaniva News reported last week, a 21-year-old Tongan woman who had recently returned to Tonga after being in Sydney was isolated at Vaiola Hospital after showing signs of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Australia has 22 cases of coronavirus in New South Wales alone. Two Australians have died from the illness – one in New South Wales and another in Perth. 

President Edouard Fritch said the carrier was one of French Polynesia's members of the French National Assembly, Maina Sage, who returned from Paris at the weekend.

Ms Sage was at home in self-isolation, Mr Fritch said.

Reports say she had met the French culture minister Franck Riester, who has also been infected.

Mr Fritch said before returning to Tahiti she had a medical check-up that showed no sign of the illness.

Amid concern over the spread of the virus, she then reportedly arranged for a test which came back positive.

COVID-19 is starting to cause widespread disruption to sport across Europe, particularly in Italy, Germany, France and Spain.

Italy is the most-affected European nation, with 9,172 cases of infection reported as of Tuesday, and that has led to all sporting activities being postponed until April 3.

In Spain, fans have been prohibited from attending games at all levels over the next two matchdays, though that could change after the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) requested all action be postponed instead.