Seven new community cases of Covid-19 have been detected in Niue, bringing the total number of active cases on the island to 25.
This spike of seven new cases is the highest in one recording period and clusters of infection have appeared in households with one or more people who have tested positive.
Of the 25 active cases, 20 have been linked to the border, while five are community cases, with zero cases hospitalised.
Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images/AFP
Visitors fail to follow regulations
Health Ministry Director-General Gaylene Tasmania said testing of passengers after a flight last week resulted in three positive cases. The cases and their close contacts were immediately required to isolate.
"On Sunday afternoon and evening, six new cases were identified, of which one was a close contact of a passenger, already in isolation," she said.
"The other five active cases identified had attended the Namukulu jubilee on Saturday, and some also attended church on Sunday morning.
"These people were monitoring themselves for symptoms and tested positive."
The Niue Broadcasting Corporation reported the spike in cases was linked to a flight on November 11, where it was believed passengers had not been wearing masks.
The report said the government had an arrangement with Air New Zealand that passengers on all incoming flights to Niue must wear their masks for the duration of the flight. However, for some reason, this was not implemented on November 11.
RNZ Pacific spoke to reporter Sariah Magaoa from the Niue Broadcasting Corporation, who explained there was a general sense of apathy towards the Covid-19 regulations in Niue.
"With the passenger flights increasing in number for the festive season, it's no help that some people are also not wearing their masks on the flights and following the regulations in the country as [has] been advised by health and government officials," she said.
Local shop owners and business managers have also raised concerns about passengers from flights not wearing masks when entering their stores.
"According to one shop owner, they have noticed that passengers will come from the airport and walk into their stores without wearing their masks, not following the rules as required by the health department that all passengers should be wearing their masks until they have cleared both tests on day 1 and day 3," Magaoa said.
"For shop owners and workers, they are depending on the good faith of the passengers to do the right thing and mask up, and not to expose the staff and other customers to the risk of contracting the virus."
Bracing for the worst but hoping for the best
Tasmania said an increase "is to be expected as people living together are not necessarily masking up within their homes, so the virus spreads quickly when people do not know they already have it".
In October, Niue moved from its Covid Response Alert Levels of blue, yellow and red to a recovery phase in its Emergency Response Plan to Coronavirus Disease 2020.
Under this new phase, the intention was to transition from a disaster to a health response, and to assist Niueans in moving towards "business as usual", Tasmania said.
Magaoa said it was uncertain what the response to the increasing community cases would be, but the government would urgently address the issue.
Tasmania said the general public needed to continue to monitor themselves for Covid-19 symptoms and to get tested if they experienced any.
Niue has recorded 124 cases of Covid-19 since March this year, with 99 of these cases fully recovered.