Coronavirus

Mt Eden, Massey, Māngere, Favona, Ōtara, Papatoetoe and Manurewa are under increased scrutiny by health officials because of their links to mystery cases or clusters that may have unexpected cases.

Counties Manukau District Health Board chief executive Margie Apa said it was most important they get tested if they had symptoms – but they also wanted people without symptoms to come forward.

Eight people are reported by health authorities to have died from COVID in Western Province in the past week.

The National Pandemic Response deputy controller Dr Daoni Esorom said the deaths were highly likely to be Delta-variant-related.

Western is one of PNG's most remote provinces and one of two that share a border with Indonesia's West Papua region. The porous border is difficult to secure, and many traditional border crossers travel back and forth.

Chief health officer Kerry Chant said the 20-year-old had significant underlying health conditions and was unvaccinated.

According NSW Health's own modelling, infections are anticipated to peak this week and hospitalisations will surge until mid-October.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the "next couple of months will be the most challenging" and in response to images of crowds gathering at weekend on Sydney's beaches, has asked the community to not become complacent.

Sixty-six cases have been recorded since the community outbreak was first detected on Monday and a lockdown has been in place since Tuesday.

There are seven people in intensive care with two in a serious condition.

The positive COVID cases range in age from 20 to 80 and while some are in Noumea hospital, others are in hotels set aside for quarantine.

The virus has been detected across the main island and in the Loyalty Islands, in particular in Lifou.

So far about a dozen clusters have been identified, with contacts being asked to isolate and get tested.

The first drive-through event which coincides with Tonga Language week - runs from 8.30am-4pm, Thursday to Saturday at the Free Wesleyan Church Of Tonga.

As of this week, 56 percent of the eligible Pacific population 12+ years have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

Pacific Response Co-ordination Team chair Pakilau Manase Lua said Tonga is a proud nation with community spirit and hopes to capture 12-30 year-olds who are yet to be vaccinated.

The Ministry of Health’s Permanent Secretary, Doctor James Fong said the child was admitted at the CWM Hospital for five days before he succumbed to illness.

He was initially presented to a health centre in mild respiratory distress on 1 September.

"He was medically assessed and stabilised by the attending medical officer and then transferred to the Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva for specialist care on the same day," Dr Fong said.

The infant was tested for COVID-19 as per protocol upon admission and he returned a positive result.

The figures were reported for the 24 hours to 8pm yesterday.

The youngest person to die was a man in his 20s who was not vaccinated and had underlying conditions.

Seven of the nine deaths were not vaccinated. One person had had one dose and one person had had two doses. All the people had underlying health conditions.

There are currently 1136 people with Covid-19 admitted to hospital; 194 people are in intensive care and 78 need ventilation.

An official says the four show mild symptoms and are isolating at home.

The government reported yesterday that seven people with Covid-19 were in hospital in Noumea, including a patient transferred from Lifou.

New Caledonia went into a two-week lockdown at midday Tuesday after three Covid-19 cases were detected in three different locations the day before.

The authorities have restated that the virus is in circulation in the community and urge the public to adhere to the restrictions.

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.

Contact tracers have so far linked 121 of the new cases to existing outbreaks, but the number of cases who were in the community while infectious is no longer being reported each day.

The new cases resulted from 42,258 test results processed on Sunday, when 29,955 vaccine doses were delivered at state-run sites.

Last week the Victorian government shifted away from trying to reach zero cases of coronavirus in the community, and is instead focusing on keeping case numbers as low as possible while getting people vaccinated.