Coronavirus

The tiny island group of about 40 residents had managed to remain infection-free by completely closing itself off to visitors.

Border restrictions, imposed in March 2020, began easing from April.

One of the island's residents who left for medical treatment tested positive on their return.

The Times UK reports the patient is isolating - along with those they travelled with.

The Pitcairn Islands, which are to the east of French Polynesia, are a British overseas territory administered from New Zealand.

The Ministry of Health confirmed that out of the 268 cases recorded, 129 cases were recorded in the Central Division; 122 cases in the Western Division and 17 cases in the North.

97 new cases were recorded on Friday, 71 cases on Saturday and 41 cases on Sunday and 59 new cases in the last 24 hours ending at 8 am yesterday.

An 82-year-old man was presented to the Raiwaqa Health Centre in respiratory distress on the 9th of this month.

He was transferred to the CWM Covid ward, where he passed away yesterday.

By Thursday, testing confirmed that 23 of 82 people in quarantine in the Marshall Islands "Safe Travels" repatriation programme were positive, while an additional three people in US Army-managed quarantine were also positive.

The Marshall Islands has so far remained Covid-free with no community spread. All of the 26 positive cases remain in government-managed quarantine centres on Kwajalein and Majuro.

Up until recently, the country required anyone coming to the Marshall Islands to quarantine in Honolulu first with multiple Covid tests prior to travelling.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health, said 522 people were now in hospital, and 10 of those were in intensive care or a high dependency unit.

The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 7951 - up 661 on yesterday.

Today's death toll covers a period back to 1 July.

One person was in their 60s, three in their 70s, five in their 80s and three were aged over 90.

The Ministry of Health announced 9629 Covid-19 cases and 24 deaths, just over 3000 more cases than Monday’s figures.

It also announced new Omicron subvariant BA.2.75 was detected in the community for the first time.

“Both cases had recently travelled from India, where this subvariant has been detected,” the ministry said.

It follows the arrival of the first quarantine free flight from New Zealand last week.

The government says so far all of the people who have tested positive for the virus were on the flight.

Premier Dalton Tagelagi is a close contact of one of the passengers and is in isolation at home.

Niue remains at Alert Level Yellow as there is no community transmission.

The government asks anyone with Covid-19 symptoms to get tested.

Photo file 

The first case was discovered two weeks ago, and another two cases were discovered last week, however, the total number of cases over the territory is still unknown.

Local Covid-19 health expert Henri Pierre Mallet told La Premiere that this new variant might mean a return to a similar situation to previous outbreaks.

"It's more contagious, that's why we are having such an increase.

The group is in isolation in accordance with local protocol.

American Samoa's Health Department Clinical Service director Dr Elizabeth Lauvao said a total of 240 passengers travelled on the flight and only four adults on the flight tested positive.

Meanwhile, the government's latest update on the community spread of Covid-19 shows that the number of Covid-19-related deaths remains at 31.

And as of June 21st, the total cumulative count of Covid positive cases stands at 6,353 positives since the community outbreak was first reported on February 27.

The new cases today bring the total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand to 1,301,319.

In today's statement, the Ministry of Health said there were 332 people in hospital with Covid-19, including seven in ICU.

A further six deaths of people with the coronavirus have also been reported today, bringing the total death toll to 1461.

One person was in their 50s, one in their 60s, two in their 70s, and two aged over 90. Five were male and one was female. Three were from the Auckland region, two were from Canterbury, and one was from Waikato.

The study, published in peer-reviewed journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, found women were significantly more likely to suffer from Long Covid than men.

Conducted by researchers from the Johnson & Johnson Office of the Chief Medical Officer health of women team in the US, the study analysed data from about 1.3 million patients.

It found women with Long Covid were presenting with a variety of symptoms including ear, nose, and throat issues; mood, neurological, skin, gastrointestinal and rheumatological disorders; as well as fatigue.