Pacific / French Polynesia

Covid-19 tally in French Polynesia now at 534

14:05 pm on 2 September 2020

French Polynesia has recorded another 23 Covid-19 cases, raising the tally in the current outbreak to 534.

A health worker puts a swab into a tube after collecting a sample for Covid-19 coronavirus testing in Gombak on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on April 22, 2020. Photo: Mohd Rasfan / AFP

The figure were released by the health authorities which gave no further details.

Yesterday, the government said the second wave of the pandemic had left 10 people in hospital, four of whom in intensive care.

Most cases were in urban areas of Tahiti, but also in Bora Bora and Ra'iatea.

The surge alarmed unions who threatened with a general strike in two days if the government refused to improve protection and re-introduce a two-week quarantine for arriving travellers.

The quarantine requirement was abandoned in the middle of July when flights restarted to revive international tourism.