A two-week lockdown has been imposed in parts of French Polynesia after a rapid surge in Covid-19 infections filled hospitals.
The lockdown and a nightly eight-hour curfew were announced by the French High Commissioner Dominique Sorain and the French Polynesian president Edouard Fritch, who say the incidence of the virus has grown 14-fold in the past two weeks.
The restrictions apply to all the Society Islands while in the Tuamotu Islands the curfew is limited to weekends.
Dominique Sorain and Edouard Fritch provide Covid-19 update Photo: supplied
Schools will be closed from Tuesday after reports that up to 40 percent of primary school children were no longer in attendance.
Dominique Sorain said about 9000 tourists must remain in their hotels.
Daily positive Covid-19 have exceeded 2000, raising the total of the pandemic to above 36,000 in French Polynesia.
More than 250 people have died, more than 100 fatalities occurred in the past month.
Latest figures show more than 320 people suffering from Covid-19 are in hospital, with 40 of them in intensive care.
Edouard Fritch is again urging people to get vaccinated, saying the time of doubt, mistrust and defiance is over. Less than half the population has been vaccinated.
On Friday, the assembly passed a law, making vaccinations compulsory for medical staff, people in contact with the public and people deemed to be vulnerable. The pro-independence opposition voted against the law.
To help relieve medical staff, France has decided to send another 10 doctors and nurses in addition to the 15 sent last week.
New Caledonia has provided eight nurses and the opposition politician Moetai Brotherson, who is also a member of the French National Assembly, has asked Cuba for help.
He said the health care system has reached its limits and medical staff are exhausted.