COVID-19

Five are in the community and related to the Auckland cluster and one is an imported case.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says the imported case is a woman in her 50s who arrived on 14 August and has been in the Sudima Hotel.

He says there are five people in hospital, one in Auckland City and one in Middlemore.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says there are no additional cases related to the Rydges Hotel maintenance worker who tested positive for Covid-19.

That brings the total number of Covid-19 cases in New Zealand to 1299.

The inquiry also heard guards at quarantine hotels were given "inappropriate" training advice.

Australian media report that guards were told masks and other protection would not be necessary, as long as they adhered to 1.5m social distancing.

Victoria is currently in lockdown because of a second wave of infections.

Stricter "stage four" restrictions were put in place in the city of Melbourne on 2 August for six weeks.

Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said there were no new cases to report from managed isolation.

The one new case that remains under investigation is in addition to the one case yesterday that is being investigated.

"But in both cases we feel quite confident that they will be linked to the outbreak."

He said 54 people linked to the cluster have been moved to a quarantine facility, including 24 of the people who have tested positive.

The seven new cases reported today bring the total number of confirmed cases to 1258.

Official data on Thursday showed there were 292 new infections in the past 24 hours, down from 428 on Wednesday.

It is the lowest daily total since 20 July. Victoria had by far the most infections - 278. Its capital Melbourne began its shutdown on 3 August.

Health Minister Greg Hunt voiced cautious optimism about the new data.

"We now believe, cautiously, that we have early signs of the flattening of the curve," he said.

The NEMC also discussed a few process concerns as members are now anticipated to bring the second repatriation flight from New Zealand later this month.

The Chairman of the NEMC, Poasi Tei acknowledged the NEMC members and staff for the hard work in bringing back the first 150 repatriated passengers from New Zealand on Tuesday.

“I would like to thank all of you for the work well done and your tireless support to bring back our first 150 passengers from NZ and also the safety of our people. Even though there were challenges but it all went well in the end.”

It comes as the state recorded one new case of coronavirus overnight.

The 68-year-old Queensland woman was diagnosed with the virus in the past 24 hours and authorities are still investigating the source of the infection.

Two historic cases have also been added to the state's total of 1,088 cases.

The hotspot declaration means anyone travelling from NSW or the nation's capital will soon be banned from entering the Sunshine State.

Queenslanders who return after travelling there will be sent to mandatory hotel quarantine for 14 days at their own expense.

There are 13,005 cumulative cases in Victoria, with 12 of the 15 deaths were associated with aged care.

The deaths were:

One male in his 30s

Three males and one female in their 70s

Three males, three females in their 80s

Three males, one female in their 90s

There are 538 people in hospital and 42 of those people are receiving intensive care.

There are 7227 total active cases and total active cases with a connection to aged care are some 1435.

In March, the Government declared the novel coronavirus COVID-19 to be a public health emergency and declared a State of Emergency.

As cases continue to increase in countries close to Tonga, like Australia, the government said it is clear that COVID-19 is a continuous public health emergency in Tonga.  

The Kingdom of Tonga remains COVID-19 free.

Photo file Caption: Prime Minister Dr Pohiva Tu’ionetoa

Money sent to Asia, where about a third of migrant workers worldwide come from, could fall by US$54.3 billion, or about a fifth of baseline remittances, the Manila-based lender said in the report released on Monday.

Remittances to Asia and the Pacific, which amounted to US$315 billion in 2019, help fuel the consumption-led growth for some of the region’s developing economies, including the Philippines.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to hit remittances hard in Asia and the Pacific,” the ADB report said.

Chief Executive Officer for Health, Dr. Siale ‘Akau’ola said, the drill was aimed at filling in the gaps that were identified during process of the repatriation flight from Fiji, and to ensure that the logistical arrangements and coordination processes were also in place at Taliai Camp.

“This is our readiness to make sure Tonga will still be COVID-19 free. And as for our front-liners involved to be fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in terms of the arrival of the first COVID-19 repatriation flight from New Zealand.”