Tonga's PM confirms Covid-19 variant in Kingdom is Omicron
Omicron has been confirmed as the variant of the current coronavirus outbreak in Tonga.
Tonga's Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Photo: Kaniva Tonga
At a press conference this morning in Nuku'alofa, Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni said the Omicron variant was identified after samples were sent to Australia.
He announced that there were now a total of 65 covid cases in Tonga and that it had spread to the island of Vava'u where 1 case was confirmed at the village of Mataika.
The omicron variant is now widespread in Kiribati as 222 new Covid-19 cases recorded
Kiribati reported 222 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total positive infections to 2,173.
The omicron variant is now widespread in the community as cases continue to be recorded on South Tarawa, Betio, Buota, Butaritari island and in North Tarawa.
The health ministry has confirmed that a 65-year-old woman who previously had a stroke has been admitted to an isolation centre.
The health ministry said 48 border cases at the Quarantine Centre have all been discharged after they tested negative, while another 88 community cases have recovered.
There is one confirmed Covid-19 death on the atoll islands.
Covid cases soar in French Polynesia
Covid 19 numbers are on the rise in French Polynesia with 2130 new cases being reported, bringing the total number of active cases to 4166.
No new deaths have been recorded however, the number of hospitalisation cases has gone up from four to 10 since the 7th of February and a second person was placed in intensive care.
78.7 percent of the population is fully vaccinated which has risen by 0.1 percent.
Fiji reports two more deaths, 75 new cases
Fiji has reported two more deaths and 75 new cases of Covid-19 in the community.
There has been a total of 63,286 cases in Fiji since March 2020.
The Government also confirmed 117 people have died since the third wave of the coronavirus began last November.
There are 752 active cases in isolation while the death toll is at 813.
Over 1000 cases recorded in New Caledonia
New Caledonia has recorded 1914 new positive cases bringing the current number of active cases to 13-thousand-345.
The total number of cases in the last 7 days is 3,371.
Two people are in intensive care while 36 are hospitalised.
65 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
American Samoa records two more Covid-19 cases
In American Samoa two more Department of Health staff have tested positive for covid-19 and are isolating.
This raises the number of positives from the January 27th Hawaiian Airlines flight to 41.
Of those, 33 passengers and eight health staff are in quarantine operations.
Director of health Motusa Tuileama Nua said their staff at the quarantine sites are tested every day and the latest cases were detected yesterday.
He said all of the positives are asymptomatic and in good health.
PNG official concerned at people refusing to comply with Covid-19 protocols
The Deputy Controller of the National Pandemic Response in Papua New Guinea is concerned at the level of non-adherence to Covid-19 protocols and other measures to combat the pandemic.
Daoni Esorom said that comes even in the midst of a surge of cases.
Dr Esorom warns that this will result in a lot of people becoming infected.
He said his office is receiving reports that most workplaces currently have more that 50 per cent of their staff who are infected and a lot of staff are absent from work.
This, he warns, will affect government services being delivered by public servants and will affect companies' profits.
PNG has recorded almost 600 Covid-19 deaths but health experts have said the figure is likely to be higher.
CNMI now has 99 percent vax rate
The CNMI only needs to fully vaccinate just 63 more individuals to achieve its target of fully inoculating at least 43,026 of its population, which represents the magic 99.9 percent of its eligible population fully vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus.
The 2020 Census placed the total CNMI population at 47,329.
The news comes as 231 additional individuals tested positive for Covid-19 in the CNMI.