Coronavirus

1,280 new cases of Covid-19 were reported last weekend, taking the total number of active cases to 4,429.

Health Secretary James Fong also confirmed the death toll is now 709.

Dr Fong said the five victims all died at home including a 27 year-old man.

Out of the 1,280 new cases, Dr Fong said 348 of them were recorded on 6 January, 320 on 7 January and 612 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8am on 5 January.

The unauthorised march in Noumea was held just a day after the government imposed a limit of 30 people for any outside gathering.

Police say while the meeting was illegal, they didn't intervene because many children were in the crowd.

However, according to the public broadcaster, police used teargas after the end of the rally to disperse some demonstrators.

The march was called to oppose the health pass required to enter venues, such as restaurants and museums, and to protest against the law making vaccinations mandatory.

This has been confirmed by the MInister of Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport Faiyaz Koya.

From today, failure to wear a mask or face-covering in the required setting will result in the spot fine of $250, businesses failing to maintain records or have QR codes available for a scan can be fined up to a thousand dollars.

Koya said the business and the official responsible will also get charged.

Failure to take temperature checks will incur a $250 fine for individuals and a $1, 000 fine will be imposed on business.

The highly transmissible variant has rapidly spread around the globe and New Zealand has dodged a community outbreak so far.

But with the escalating number of overseas returnees testing positive, there are fears a new wave of the virus could be out in the community within weeks.

Epidemiologist and University of Otago professor Michael Baker called the variant a "huge threat" and said it was not a matter of if there was an outbreak, but when.

Recent studies suggest that Omicron is less likely to make people seriously ill than previous Covid variants.

But the record number of people catching it has left health systems under severe pressure, said WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

On Monday, the US recorded more than one million Covid cases in 24 hours.

The WHO - the UN's health agency - said the number of global cases has increased by 71% in the last week, and in the Americas by 100%. It said that among severe cases worldwide, 90% were unvaccinated.

Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, James Fong said 254 cases were recorded in the Central Division, 103 cases were in the Western Division, six cases were reported in the Northern Division, and nine cases are in the Eastern Division.

224 new cases were recorded on Tuesday and 372 cases were recorded in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.

The first Covid-19 death to report is of a 75-year-old man from Suva who died at his home last Friday.

The three army personnel tested positive for Covid soon after arrival at the US Army Garrison - Kwajalein Atoll (USAG-KA) Tuesday while starting a two-week quarantine period for entry into the country.

A record 1,080,211 cases were reported on Monday - the highest one-day tally of new cases anywhere in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The Omicron variant accounts for the majority of cases in the US.

The top US pandemic adviser Anthony Fauci has said the country is facing "almost a vertical increase" in cases.

He said the peak may be weeks away.

While rates of death and hospital admissions in the US have been far lower in recent weeks than in previous infection spikes, the number of hospital admissions has been steadily rising.

The Victoria figures mark another record-breaking jump in infections, surpassing Tuesday's tally of 14,020.

The new cases were detected from 59,682 test results, taking the test positivity rate to nearly 30 percent.

But the true figure is likely much higher, as the PCR testing network is overwhelmed by the rapid rise in cases.

There are now 51,317 active cases of the virus, and 731 people have died in the current outbreak.

Last month Australia lifted most of its strict domestic restrictions after reaching a 90% vaccination target.

But the Omicron variant has fuelled a surge in cases - now totalling over 25,000 a day.

That's put intense pressure on testing and hospital systems, causing anxiety around the country.

PCR tests have always been widely available in Australia, but last week the government began limiting who is eligible to receive them for free.