COVID-19 cases increase

More Covid cases reported in French Polynesia

The number of active cases is now 51, a slight increase over last week.

The health authorities say there are no Covid-19 patients left in the hospital.

Vaccinations have continued and more than 81 percent of those 12 years and older have had two jabs.

The death toll of the pandemic is 648, with most fatalities registered during last year's outbreak with the Delta variant.

Travel restrictions have been eased and most pre-pandemic air links have been resumed.

   

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Kiribati confirms more than 100 Covid-19 cases, prompting new govt restrictions

There are 116 people infected on the island - 36 imported and 80 local cases.

Nine new cases have been found in Butaritari Island, prompting the government to advise local authorities to enforce a lockdown.

Several other islands have been placed under strict restrictions - including South Tarawa, Betio, and Buota - to stop the virus from spiralling out of control.

Meanwhile, the government said that from today, fishermen in South Tarawa and Betio would only be allowed to go fishing between 6am and 2pm.

Wallis Covid-19 cases soar to 178

The territory is under lockdown while vaccinations are being rolled out.

Six patients are in hospital, including one in intensive care.

The first person to test positive in the community was flown out for care in New Caledonia

Wallis and Futuna had been in a travel bubble with New Caledonia, which is also under a two-week lockdown as the virus has been found in 33 people.

Until 6 March, the two territories were the only French-administered areas without Covid-19 community transmission.

     

Covid-19 cases in the CNMI rise to 125

The Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) said the recent case was identified by travel screening and confirmed through testing upon arrival.

It said the person was moved to the designated isolation area for close monitoring.

It also added that it has already initiated contact tracing for the most immediate contacts of the new confirmed case, including passengers on the same flight.

Out of the 125 total Covid-19 cases, 99 were identified by travel screening while 26 were local transmissions.

There are currently three persons in isolation.

New cases in Victoria hit record high

Twenty-eight new cases are connected to contained outbreaks and 289 cases are under investigation.

In announcing the figures, Premier Daniel Andrews said it was too early to consider stage four restrictions.

"We're seeing relative stability to these numbers," he said. "We have made the point with these stay-at-home restrictions only a week old, it will take some time to bring stability to the numbers and to start to see a pattern where they are driven down."

Pacific Covid-19 cases rise: WHO

There are new confirmed cases in Papua New Guinea, its tenth, and Guam, where a spike in cases has taken its total to 231.

The total number of cases listed by the WHO for the region is 352 - an increase of 38 cases since last week.

The WHO says although infection rates are slowing in the Pacific, the crisis is far from over.

While most Pacific Island nations have no recorded cases, the WHO says in many parts of the region, the pandemic is only starting to make its presence felt.