33 COVID-19 fatalities in French Polynesia

The COVID-19 pandemic in French Polynesia has claimed another 33 lives over the weekend, raising the official death toll to 513.

350 people are in hospital, and of those 59 are in intensive care, with figures suggesting the outbreak has reached a plateau.

Daily case numbers are no longer made public but exceeded a thousand a day for much of August.

44 fire-fighters and military employees have today arrived from France, joining the more than 150 medical personnel sent by Paris last week.

A lockdown is entering its third week amid reports of stricter controls because of many breaches.

In a weekend incident, police made arrests after dozens partied in defiance of the rules.

The French National Assembly will meet this week and is expected to vote for an extension of the state of emergency in overseas territories, such as French Polynesia, until mid-November.