COVID-19

Health authorities have described the weekend rites attended by more than 500 people as a potential superspreader event.

They confirmed three new cases late on Tuesday, two of which were soldiers at a managed isolation quarantine facility (MIQ).

The third case reported is a woman in her 30s who is the daughter of a 53-year-old woman who worked as a maid at the same MIQ.

The maid had contracted the virus from a male soldier who authorities now believe had contracted Covid-19 while handling the baggage of two Fijian nationals who returned from India on 10 April.

In a note to the media about its updated travel guidance, it said the pandemic continued to "pose unprecedented risks to travellers".

The current US "Do Not Travel" advisory covers 34 out of 200 countries.

Covid-19 has now claimed more than three million lives worldwide - more than half a million of them in the US.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warned the world was "approaching the highest rate of infection" so far, despite the global rollout of vaccination programmes.

One of the cases is classified as community transmission and the patient is the daughter of a hotel worker who was confirmed Covid-19 positive yesterday.

The hotel worker was based at a border quarantine facility.

Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services Dr James Fong confirmed the second community transmission case in a press conference this afternoon.

“Due to her extensive exposure with the public, this hotel staff, and now her daughter, has been the central focus of our contact tracing,” Dr Fong said.

Government offices and essential services, such as hospitals, pharmacies and grocers, will be open during the lockdown, which starts on Monday night.

The city had imposed a weekend curfew, but reported its highest single-day spike so far on Sunday - 24,462 cases.

India has been reeling from a deadly second wave since the start of April.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the city had almost run out of beds at hospital intensive care units (ICUs) and that oxygen was in short supply.

The milestone comes the day after the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned the world was "approaching the highest rate of infection" so far.

India - experiencing a second wave - recorded more than 230,000 new cases on Saturday alone.

Almost 140 million cases have been recorded since the pandemic began.

WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Friday that "cases and deaths are continuing to increase at worrying rates".

He added that "globally, the number of new cases per week has nearly doubled over the past two months".

Shots of the Covaxdelivered AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered over the past four days in Nauru with 700 of the 7,000 eligible people receiving their first dose.

The government says with Nauru maintaining regular cargo and passenger flights to Brisbane the likelihood of Covid-19 entering Nauru remains a possibility.

It says it wants everyone on the island aged over 18 to get vaccinated.

By July, Nauru hopes to have a fully immunised population, which could be a world first.

Cuttitta had been hospitalised in Rome with Covid-19 and died on Sunday following complications from the virus.

The former prop played for the Italy side who stunningly beat Scotland in their first Six Nations match in 2000.

He was the Azzurri captain 22 times in 69 appearances from 1990-2000, including at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and went on to become a scrum coach for Scotland from 2009-15.

Born in Italy, Cuttitta and his twin brother Marcello Cuttitta – who also played for the national team – grew up in South Africa.

The territory returned to its Covid-free status after a four-week lockdown, but still required people to wear masks in public places.

As of yesterday morning, mass gatherings were again allowed, clearing the way for churches to have services for the first time in five weeks.

Boarding schools have been able to receive students and re-open today.

On 7 March, a cluster of local Covid-19 cases was detected, prompting an immediate sharp lockdown.

A total of 63 infections were recorded since then but none in the past week.

The Samoa and Tonga Under 20 teams were scheduled to contest the title on 22 May but, following consultation with Lakapi Samoa and Tonga Rugby Union, Oceania Rugby said the game will not go ahead.

Competitions Manger, Wayne Schuster, said the ongoing travel restrictions, advice from health authorities and the continued challenge in hosting tournaments in the Covid-19 landscape were the main factors in their decision.

"Unfortunately rescheduling or postponing this year's event would also not be realistic under the current circumstances."

The lockdown at Lae's University of Technology started on Sunday after the deaths of two academics - one the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Gabriel Arpa.

Unitech's administration said the cause of their deaths is yet to be confirmed but both people had Covid-19 symptoms, The National newspaper reported.

Unitech said as an interim precaution, they had decided to suspend all classes for two weeks and impose a total lockdown.