Pacific / French Polynesia

Covid-19 cases in French Polynesia on the rise

12:11 pm on 24 August 2021

The Covid-19 outbreak in French Polynesia claimed another 54 lives over the weekend.

Latest figures by the health authorities show another 2,745 infections were recorded in the 72 hours since Friday.

349 people suffering from Covid-19 are in hospital, including 48 in intensive care.

Extra beds in the hall of the Taaone Hospital in Papeete. Covid-19 seemed to have almost disappeared from Tahiti between March and July. But with the Delta variant, it returned with unprecedented violence, saturating the Tahiti hospital centre within a month. Photo: AFP or licensors

Most of the cases are in Tahiti but the pandemic has now reached many outer islands.

A two-week lockdown is in force for the Society Islands as efforts continue to vaccinate the population.

Despite a seven-month inoculation campaign, only about a third of the population has been fully vaccinated.

Last Friday, the assembly passed a law, making vaccinations compulsory for medical staff, people in contact with the public and people deemed to be vulnerable.

French Polynesia reopened its borders for quarantine-free travel in July last year and has recorded more than 39,000 Covid-19 cases since then.

More than half of the 311 fatalities have been recorded in the past month.