Coronavirus

The prime minister told MPs the legal duty to isolate for those who tested positive would be dropped as he unveiled his "living with Covid" plan.

From 1 April the provision of free testing would be targeted to the most vulnerable, Boris Johnson said.

But the British Medical Association, a doctors' union, said the plan failed to protect those most at risk from Covid.

And opposition parties said the prime minister's blueprint out of the pandemic had moved too fast, and voiced concern over the scaling back of free testing.

The Health Ministry reports the victims were a 70-year-old man with underlying medical conditions and an 89-year-old woman who was unvaccinated.

There have been over 2,800 infections recorded across the atoll islands, with 23 new cases reported in the past two days.

The Government has extended its nationwide lockdown for another fortnight since Friday.

Authorities said the lockdown "may be longer should the need arise" due to widespread community transmissions.

The monarch is experiencing "mild cold-like symptoms" but expects to continue "light duties" at Windsor over the coming week, the palace said.

"She will continue to receive medical attention and will follow all the appropriate guidelines," it added in a statement.

Her eldest son and heir, the Prince of Wales, tested positive on 10 February, after meeting his mother on 8 February.

It is understood a number of people have tested positive at Windsor Castle, where the Queen resides.

The Whānau Ora Manager for Pasifika health service, The Fono, Europa Kupu said that close to 100 families have sought their support.

"It's increasing by the day," she said.

"Most of the referrals are from different clusters and gatherings that's been happening in the past few weeks. With the amount of family and individuals getting tested we're seeing the increase of positive cases."

Kupu adds that more support is needed from the government.

The Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said the latest donation to COVAX will also support vaccination programmes in developing countries, including in parts of the Pacific and in Africa where immunisation rates are low.

New Zealand is contributing a further 7.3 million vaccines to COVAX including 5.8 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine and 1.5 million doses of Janssen vaccine.

Through New Zealand's Advance Purchase Agreement (APA) with Pfizer, paediatric vaccine doses are also being provided to countries in Polynesia.

Her husband, the Prince of Wales, tested positive for the virus on Thursday but Camilla, 74, carried out three public engagements on that day after testing negative.

Prince Charles met with the Queen two days before he tested positive.

Last week Buckingham Palace said the Queen had no Covid symptoms and on Monday said it had nothing to add.

It is the first time the duchess has caught coronavirus, while Prince Charles has the virus for a second time.

A Clarence House spokesman said they would follow government guidelines.

Prime Minister Mark Brown said this case was not connected to the visitor who tested positive for Omicron after leaving Rarotonga and arriving back in New Zealand last Monday.

He said this person - who is currently isolated and under observation at their private holiday accommodation - arrived in Rarotonga last Thursday.

They were a close contact of a family member in Auckland who tested positive on Sunday in New Zealand.

Brown said as a precaution this person got tested, and was asymptomatic, but she returned a positive result in just a few hours later.

On Saturday the government announced that churches, bars and night-clubs in the Honiara Emergency zone will stay shut, except for casinos.

This comes as Covid-19 rips through Solomon Islands, especially in the capital.

As of late last week there were more than 4,000 cases in the country and at least 50 deaths.

Mr Wale claims the exemption for the casinos is purely political to support businesses with links to the government.

He asks how casinos can be any different from churches in terms of helping spread Covid.

The FDA had planned to decide on the vaccine based on early trial data as soon as next week with the government planning to roll it out on 21 February. It had asked Pfizer to speed up its application as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus caused a surge of infections, including among children.

On Friday, the agency said it had reviewed new trial information that arrived after Pfizer and BioNTech's request for emergency authorisation and decided it needed more data before weighing in on the authorisation.

The study, which is led by Victoria University, will ask nearly 8,700 people over the age of 16, what it was like to live with Covid-19.     

Pacific team leader Tuiloma Lina Samu is making sure people are able to take part in the survey in many Pacific languages. 

“If you are willing to take part, you can go through an interview with our Pacific researchers to fa’amatala, to go deeper into what you experienced when you went through Covid, as well your family members.”