COVID-19 cases

Covid-19 outbreaks in the Blues, Highlanders, and Crusaders squads have forced a change in the schedule.

The only game that will be played this weekend is Moana Pasifika against the Chiefs at Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland in Saturday night.

The original schedule had the Highlanders playing host to Moana Pasifika in Dunedin, the Blues playing the Crusaders in Christchurch, and the Hurricanes versus the Chiefs in Wellington.

Moana Pasifika have only played one game in their debut season so far - that was against the Crusaders earlier this month.

In a release the Highlanders said they had cancelled today's training session, but at this point there has been no decision made on Friday's game in Dunedin.

They said there had been no change to the rest of their schedule this week.

The Highlanders have managed to play four games so far this season, losing all four of them.

However, another postponed game would be a major setback for Moana Pasifika, who have played just one game so far.

They had two games postponed at the start of the season because of Covid-19 in their camp.

Two Covid-related deaths have also been reported and there are 952 people in hospital, including 19 in intensive care.

The average age of people in hospital is currently 58.

Of the two Covid-related deaths, one was in Waikato and one was in Canterbury. Both people were women aged over 70.

The total number of publicly reported Covid-19 related deaths to date is now 115, the ministry said in a statement.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the whānau and friends of all those who have died."

The ministry has reported 18,833 new community cases of Covid-19 today, with 597 people in hospitals, including 10 people who need intensive care.

It said 9789 cases reported today were in Auckland, which recorded more than 13,000 cases yesterday, with health authorities in New Zealand's largest city hoping the Omicron wave had peaked.

The Health Ministry reports the victims were a 70-year-old man with underlying medical conditions and an 89-year-old woman who was unvaccinated.

There have been over 2,800 infections recorded across the atoll islands, with 23 new cases reported in the past two days.

The Government has extended its nationwide lockdown for another fortnight since Friday.

Authorities said the lockdown "may be longer should the need arise" due to widespread community transmissions.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health said the new cases are in Northland (16), Auckland (340), Waikato (48), Lakes (13), Bay of Plenty (14), Lakes (13), Taranaki (1), Hutt Valley (7), Capital & Coast (4), and Southern (3).

The ministry said the number of cases would continue to fluctuate from day-to-day but "our expectation is that cases will continue to increase in the coming weeks".

Deakin University chair of epidemiology Catherine Bennett said at New South Wales' peak, the state had roughly 3.5 patients hospitalised with coronavirus per 10,000 residents.

By comparison, she calculated the Northern Territory (NT) now had roughly 6.32 Covid-related hospitalisations per 10,000 people.

Professor Bennett said the territory's high hospitalisation wasn't altogether surprising, considering many people in the NT had a "high risk profile".

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare made a national address yesterday saying there are now 2790 cases in the country.

Sogavare said this was within 20 days of the country's first case of domestic transmission of the virus.

He said on Friday alone, health officials identified 430 cases.

Sogavare put the official death toll at 32 but other deaths are believed to have occurred at home.

The prime minister said all but three provinces have reported cases, and transmission was now widespread in the capital, Honiara.

Under the new measures, people have been told to stay at home and social gatherings are banned.

Some 36 people on the flight from Fiji have tested positive. Four people have caught the virus from community transmission.

Until last week, Kiribati had recorded just two Covid cases.

Kiribati is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is some 4,800km (2,980 miles) from its nearest continent, Australia.

The personnel who tested positive are "well and asymptomatic", FRU chief executive John O'Connor said, adding that the men's and women's teams were still hoping to compete in the following round in Seville from Jan. 28-30.

"Taking in consideration that the entire team are primary contacts ... teams have moved into the mandatory seven days isolation," O'Connor said.

Fiji's men's side, who defeated New Zealand to retain their Olympic Rugby Sevens gold in Tokyo last year, are sixth in the standings, while the women's team are second, four points behind leaders Australia.