COVID-19

Before serving as president between 2012 and 2017, Mukherjee held several important portfolios during his 51-year political career.

These included the finance, foreign and defence ministries.

His son, Abhijit, confirmed the news in a tweet.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Mukherjee's contribution to the country, saying the former president had "left an indelible mark on the development trajectory of our nation".

Four further cases have been found in isolation.

Health Minister Chris Hipkins and Deputy Director-General of Health Robyn Shearer have given today's official Covid-19 briefing.

There are nine new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand today, Shearer says, five in the community and four in managed isolation.

All the new cases are epidemiologically linked to the Auckland cluster, she says, three linked to the Mt Roskill evangelical church and two contacts of previously known cases.

The notice was issued based on an advice from the Ministry of Health.

The repatriated passengers from Fiji are required to undertake their COVID-19 testing for the results to be received negative.

Experts and consultants to assist the Ministry of Health response team and various projects currently implemented are allowed to return, provided that they meet the requirements.

In the meantime, all repatriated passengers must agree and follow the quarantine terms and conditions upon arrival in Tonga.

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The police shooting of a Black man in the Wisconsin town of Kenosha has triggered days of violent unrest and riled US professional sports.

The NBA postponed all three playoff games that had been scheduled yesterday after the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court for Game 5 of their series against the Orlando Magic.

The Bucks players said in a statement they were unable to focus on basketball due to the events in Kenosha, which is located about 60km south of Milwaukee.

Dr McElnay says one case is an imported case, a woman in her 20s who tested positive in Christchurch in managed isolation on day three of her stay. The woman arrived on 22 August from Turkey via London and Hong Kong.

The other six cases have all been linked to the current cluster, one via a workplace and the others are household contacts of previous cases.

She says 2455 close cases have been identified, 2404 of these have been contacted.

In announcing the death last night, the Permanent Secretary for Health, James Fong, said the man had returned home from California on 6 August.

Fong said the man fell ill in managed quarantine shortly after his arrival and was transferred to the Lautoka hospital, where his condition worsened.

"Despite the best efforts of our healthcare professionals, he sadly passed away [Monday]last night."

On behalf of his ministry, Fong extended his deepest sympathies to family and friends.

The Chicago Bears pushed back training from morning to the afternoon. Initial testing had revealed that nine players and staff members had tested positive but the results later turned out to be false positives, and the team put off training until the afternoon "out of an abundance of caution", the Chicago Tribune reported.

The NFL said the clubs were taking precautionary measures while working to either confirm or rule out the positive tests.

Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath, co-head of the School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies at the University of Auckland, is a specialist in mental health and well-being among Pacific people.

Tiatia-Seath urged Pacific people to check-in on family, friends, colleagues, students as it was important during these extraordinary times.

"Through my work around suicide prevention, it has always been a key message to check in on each other and that was born from siblings checking in on each other once they have lost a loved on to suicide."

Hundreds of seasonal workers have been stranded in New Zealand over recent months, some with expiring visas.

Pacific leaders had already raised concern about those with uncertain immigration status missing out on assistance or healthcare because of fear of being discovered.

However the minister, Chris Hipkins, encouraged them to get tested for Covid-19 if they needed to.

"We will not use the information collected through the Covid-19 testing process for other purposes, including for immigration purposes," Mr Hipkins said.

The Australian flag carrier's boss says trading conditions are the worst in the airline's 100-year history.

The firm also says around 4,000 of its 6,000 planned job cuts are expected to be finalised by the end of next month.

The global airline industry has been hit hard as travel restrictions have been imposed around the world.

"The impact of Covid on all airlines is clear. It's devastating and it will be a question of survival for many," Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.

"Recovery will take time and it will be choppy," he added.