COVID-19

D'Ath said the 44-year-old woman was staying with her husband and other family members in Caloundra and was tested yesterday, with a positive result confirmed this afternoon.

The woman left Victoria on 1 June, travelled through New South Wales and crossed the Queensland border on 5 June. She was being interviewed and Queensland Health would release a list of exposure sites, D'Ath said.

Victoria's lockdown had already started when she left.

Testing clinics on the Sunshine Coast will be open for extended hours and D'Ath has urged people to get tested.

Charities have been working hard to deal with a desperate need for food and other necessities like baby formula, masks and medicine.

In the squatter settlements in the Nasinu district on the outskirts of Suva many people live hand to mouth at the best of times.

Now things are getting critical because people have been laid off during the prolonged lockdown, according to Usaia Moli, the president of the local branch of the Council of Social Services, a nationwide charity.

His comments on the subject, made during a call with reporters on World Bank economic forecasts, came as WTO negotiations over the proposed waiver resumed in Geneva.

Asked whether he backs a WTO vaccine IP waiver, which India, South Africa and other emerging market countries argue is needed to expand vaccine access, Malpass said: "We don't support that, for the reason that it would run the risk of reducing the innovation and the R&D in that sector."

Fiji’s Parliament has passed the Public Health Amendment Bill 2021 which paves the way for police officers to impose “on-the-spot” payment of fines for people not wearing masks and businesses not adhering to COVID safe measures

It will now bring in fines for offences which may include the failure to wear an appropriate face covering or present the careFIJI mobile application on entering business premises, or the failure to comply with mandatory curfews, physical distancing requirements and capacity restrictions for gatherings, events, public service vehicles and businesses.

President Lionel Aingimea and Madam Aingimea were among the first to receive the second dose shot today.

Nauru Media News – NTV reports those who received their first injection of the COVID vaccine from April 9 to 12 will be the first to get the second dose shot.

According to COVID vaccine Coordinator Celestine Eoaeo the first group to receive their second dose jabs is over 1000.

A vaccination booth is conveniently set up at the Government Office and Public Health Centre for the second dose shots of the AstraZeneca Vaccine.

There are several new clusters confirmed with cases emerging in Naitasiri 35km outside  of Suva and from various localities outside of the Suva Nausori containment zones.

Two cases are from Matainasau Village in Naitasiri, one of whom was recently discharged from the Colonial War Memorial Hospital and one case had moved to Tavua Village by the time the results were known.

There is one each case from Laselevu, Savusavu settlement and Vuisiga Village in Vunidawa, Naitasiri.

The assurance comes amid an escalating number of cases on the main island, Viti Levu, with clusters in both hospitals and the Navy.

Health secretary James Fong said the frontline public health response teams were conducting surveillance and containment efforts in the communities.

The ministry screened and tested its frontline personnel for their safety and the public's safety because "they come into contact with persons who have been exposed to the virus", Fong said.

As a result the ministry has stood-down all personnel operating from the third floor of the Ministry of Health and Medical Services Headquarters in Suva.

Among the staff who are now working from home are Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr James Fong, Head of Health Protection, Dr Aalisha Sahukhan, and Chief Medical Advisor, Dr Jemesa Tudravu.

They have been identified as secondary contacts of the three cases.

The ministry said the primary contacts have been identified and safely quarantined.

As a consequence, many families saw a decline in their incomes necessitating recourse to a range of coping strategies. The reports of the World Bank’s High Frequency Phone Monitoring Surveys of Households conducted in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands during the year throws further light on this.

With less to spend, consumer demand weakened. More and more people turned to, for example, growing food for their own consumption, sewing/mending their own clothes and forgoing personal activities such as going to the hairdresser, eating out, etc.

For most millennials it's off-limits right now, a reality many argue is holding them back - and risking their future.

Four months into Australia's vaccine programme, most people aged under 40 still aren't eligible to get the jab. The country has been running a rollout in stages based on age and vulnerability.

The process has also been held up by supply issues, delivery failures and concerns over the AstraZeneca vaccine.