Coronavirus

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Covid-19: XBB.1.5 variant detected in Fiji

Due to this, the Health Ministry states it is ready to review some public health border measures.

The sub-variant, also known as Kraken, was descended from the Omicron XBB subvariant, itself a cross between two earlier strains: BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1.

It comes just a day after New Zealand revealed the variant had also been detected in the country late last week.

The World Health Organization said it has been detected in at least 31 other countries.

Medical superintendent Jemesa Tudravu told FBC news the variant had high transmissibility.

Covid-19: XBB.1.5 variant detected in New Zealand

Whole genome sequencing results for two Covid-19 cases with XBB.1.5 were reported by the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) late last week.

"The detection of XBB.1.5 is not unexpected, following its recent detection in Australia and globally, and our Covid-19 response accounts for the emergence of new variants," the ministry said on Monday.

Kraken was descended from the Omicron XBB subvariant, itself a cross between two earlier strains: BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1.

The World Health Organization said it has been detected in at least 31 other countries.

Tuvalu stops recording Covid-19 cases

It has stopped recording Covid-19 cases, labeling the situation 'calm and normal.'

RNZ Pacific reports the last update was on November 30, 2022, when 2779 cases had been recorded since the community outbreak was announced on November 3.

Government spokesperson Lili Faavae said when the border was officially opened on December 1, 2022, a decision was made to scrap data recording of infections.

2 deaths, 19 new Covid cases in Fiji

The Ministry of Health says the first Covid-19 death is a 64-year- old man from Suva.

He was presented at a health centre on 23 December with pre-existing medical conditions and later tested positive for Covid-19.

FijiVillage reports the Ministry also says he later passed away on the same day.

He was vaccinated with 2 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Ministry says the second death reported was of a 34-year-old female Tuvaluan citizen living in Fiji since 2018.

She was admitted at the CWM Hospital in Suva with diabetes complications on 6 December.

WHO warns about China under-representing Covid deaths

The removal of most restrictions last month has led to a surge in cases.

But China has stopped publishing daily cases data, and has announced only 22 Covid deaths since December, using its own strict criteria.

"We believe that definition [of a Covid death] is too narrow," WHO emergencies director Dr Michael Ryan said.

Dr Ryan said China's figures "under-represent the true impact of the disease in terms of hospital admissions, in terms of ICU admissions, and particularly in terms of deaths".

China Covid: Beijing criticises 'political' rules for its tourists

The US, India and the UK are among the nations that have introduced mandatory testing for arrivals from China.

BBC report the country has recently seen a surge in Covid cases following the easing of its strict controls.

And there are fears that cases and deaths are being vastly underreported.

China's last daily Covid update, on 24 December, reported fewer than 5,000 cases - but some analysts claim the daily caseload is already over two million, and could peak at almost four million this month.

Covid-19 variant keeps changing warns immunologist

The BA.2.75 subvariant, is a recently identified second generation subvariant of BA.2, the dominant variant currently circulating in New Zealand.  

Early evidence from overseas suggests BA.2.75 is slightly more transmissible but unlikely to cause severe illness as the previous Delta variant.

PM News reports Dr Helen Petousis-Harris says people need to be sensible and not rely on vaccines doing all the work. 

“You have to also help it out a bit. People who have been vaccinated and had a booster and had an infection have reasonable protection against severe disease.

New Covid-19 cases on Niue

RNZ Pacific reports there are 169 active cases in the community.

439 cases have been reported in total since March this year.

 

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China Covid: Health expert predicts three winter waves

The country is seeing a surge in cases since the lifting of its most severe restrictions earlier this month.

The latest official figures appear to show a relatively low number of new daily cases.

However, there are concerns that these numbers are an underestimate due to a recent reduction in Covid testing.

BBC reports the government reported only 2,097 new daily cases on Sunday.

Red Cross makes Covid plans for Tuvalu

Spokesperson Milikini Failautusi said disinformation has been an issue and her team is working on a plan to tackle the issue for the new year.

"A lot of misconceptions and fears about the covid because people, via social media, were able to get the wrong information, they were able to get the misleading information from the internet."

She said the spread of the virus has been rapid, all of the 50 actively engaged Red Cross volunteers in Funafuti who are on the frontline - have had Covid-19 according to RNZ Pacific.