Red Cross

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.

Concerted international action is necessary to help Papua New Guinea (PNG) deal with a record surge in COVID-19 cases that is overwhelming the country’s health system, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) has said.

The latest wave of COVID-19 has seen PNG report the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began in March 2020.

The country reported 376 new cases on Saturday and is dealing with nearly 3,000 active cases of the disease, according to the latest government data.

Two ICRC offices will close and a third will see operations scaled down.

The ICRC country head said the "painful decision" meant people in the north would no longer get help they needed.

She stressed the Red Cross would not leave Afghanistan, but said the organisation had to limit the risks faced by its staff.

Many other humanitarian organisations have pulled out of Afghanistan in recent years as Taliban and so-called Islamic State militants have stepped up attacks.

The patients, who are being treated in hospital in nearby Irbil, are "showing clinical symptoms consistent with an exposure to a blistering chemical agent," said Robert Mardini, the organization's regional director for the Middle East.

The five children, three women and four men have symptoms that include blisters, coughing, redness in the eyes, irritation, and vomiting.

"Thousands of people in Louisiana have lost everything they own and need our help now," said Brad Kieserman, the Red Cross' vice president of disaster services operations and logistics.

Melanie Ogle, a New Zealander with Red Cross in Suva says Fiji Red Cross is a strong organisation and is already responding to the damage caused by Cyclone Winston. 

“Over 300 Fiji Red Cross staff and volunteers of have so far been mobilised to support at-risk communities and people in evacuation centres. Volunteers are trained in emergency response and propositioned relief aid was on hand.”

Red Cross has enough emergency relief stock prepositioned across Fiji to support 12,500 people.

The country had spent much of Saturday in lockdown, with transport cancelled and nationwide curfew and state of emergency declared by the government.

Already there are initial reports of severe damage across the country, with reports of houses being flattened and heavy swells washing away sea walls.

Unconfirmed reports suggest one person died when they were struck by falling debris on Koro island, according to local media, but a police spokesperson was unable to confirm reports.