Tahiti’s Nuutania prison detects covid-19 outbreak with 20 cases

By RNZ Pacific

The covid-19 outbreak in French Polynesia has reached Tahiti’s prison and infected 20 people.

The French High Commission said that after two cases were detected among corrections staff, tests had revealed an initial tally of 13.

A second round of testing then found another four cases among staff and three among the prisoners.

READ MORE: Updates on the covid-19 pandemic in Tahiti

While the employees were in isolation at home, the inmates had been transferred to separate premises.

The figures released by the French Polynesian government on Friday said to date there had been 1579 cases, including six deaths.

Of these cases, 1512 had been recorded after the borders were opened and mandatory quarantine requirements were abolished in July to boost tourism and revive the economy.

Meanwhile, a court in French Polynesia has thrown out a challenge to the order to wear masks brought in to stop the spread of covid-19.

The ruling came as the government announced the sixth fatality of the pandemic amid a jump in new infections.

Representing 47 individuals, lawyer Thibaud Millet had sought to quash the decrees issued by the government and the French High Commission, arguing that they were too restrictive and vague.

PNG confirms another covid case
Papua New Guinea’s confirmed cases of covid-19 has reached 532 after a new case was reported in the National Capital District (NCD) in the past 24 hours, reports RNZ Pacific.

The latest covid-19 case is a 21 year-old woman from the Gerehu suburb in the North West electorate.

She is now isolated at the Rita Flynn whilst the NCD response teams are carrying out contact tracing.

The total number of confirmed cases in NCD has reached 316, prompting calls for citizens to be on the look out for symptoms of covid-19 and get tested at the earliest.

In Guam, while the territorial government winds down some of its covid-19 restrictions the island has recorded its 39th death from the virus.

The Pacific Daily News reports a 66-year-old man was the latest fatality.

He had underlying health conditions compounded by covid and died on Thursday night at the Guam Memorial Hospital.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.

• All RNZ coverage of covid-19
• If you have symptoms of the coronavirus, call the NZ Covid-19 Healthline on 0800 358 5453 (+64 9 358 5453 for international SIMs) or call your GP – don’t show up at a medical centre.