Cook Islands

The 63-year-old woman died on the way to hospital on the island of Aitutaki, Prime Minister Mark Brown said in a statement.

"It is with great sadness that I announce that we have recorded our first in-country death attributed to Covid-19," Brown said.

"The deceased was a 63-year-old woman on the island of Aitutaki.

"She had had all three anti-Covid vaccinations, but also had several serious underlying health conditions."

"It is tragic, but not unexpected that we might lose someone to Covid.

There is an increase in the number of people who can gather at outdoor events from 50 to 100.

The maximum limit for indoor spaces will continue to be 50 people.

Contact sport has resumed with the requirement of players to return a negative RAT result on the day of play.

Prime Minister Mark Brown said some sports codes are delaying the resumption of competition until after the Covid-19 outbreak in the Cook Islands has peaked.

He said there has been some push back on the charging of RAT tests for players and this is being reviewed for a better solution.

With Vanuatu already out of the tournament in Qatar, Thursday's clash between Solomon Islands and Tahiti in Doha will now act as a single play-off match to determine the winner and runner-up of Group A, with both teams already assured of a spot in the semi-finals.

If the match is level at the end of 90 minutes, extra time will be played followed by penalties if required.

As of this morning there had been 676 cases in the Cooks, with 206 having recovered and 470 still active.

The vast majority of these cases have been on Rarotonga, with several on Aitutaki.

The Prime Minister, Mark Brown, says while none of the Covid-19 victims in the country have needed hospital treatment, one case does have moderate symptoms.

He said this person is being supported by Te Marae Ora and other government agencies.

Mr Brown also said there are 14 active cases aged 70 or over and these people are also being closely monitored.

The case is an Aitutaki resident, and the person is isolating at home.

Household contacts are currently being identified and are asked to quarantine.

Like Rarotonga, the population on Aitutaki is highly vaccinated and Prime Minister Mark Brown said they are prepared for this.

Over the weekend 24 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number to 130.

R-A-T tests will be used to diagnose new cases in the Cook Islands as is occurring in New Zealand.

No additional PCR test will be required except for clinical reasons.

The Rarotongan Beach Resort and Lagoonarium, typically welcomes a few hundred Russian guests a year, but over the weekend this message appeared on its social media pages - 'With regret, Russians are banned from our hotels until every single Russian soldier has left Ukraine.'

The post has since been deleted but Tata Crocombe said he stands by his decision despite critics calling it 'discriminatory'.

However, Crocombe said the resort ban would eventually be softened to only apply to Russian citizens who support Vladimir Putin's war.

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.

The national team was scheduled to play Tonga in the qualifiers match for a place in the group stage of the competition.

The Cook Islands will now get a chance to play against Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu.

Yesterday strong gusts and heavy rain battered Rarotonga, with sea surges flooding low lying areas and inundating roads with debris.

Cook Islands Meteorological Service Director Arona Ngari said it will be a significant clean up operation.

"It has been a long week or so for us, but things have abated, so just waiting for another two three days for the whole momentum of the system to calm down. No major damage apart from coastal inundation, mostly from the waves. A bit of flooding last night and the day before from the rainfall," he said.

Four community cases reported in New Zealand overnight, including an Auckland hospital worker, brings the total to five.

Cases are all linked to Tuesday's first case in Auckland, which is confirmed as the Delta variant.

"While the epidemiological variance and transmission link for the community case in New Zealand is still being investigated, we must act swiftly here to minimize exposure risk for the Cook Islands so we remain safe," said prime minister Brown.