Covid-19 Pacific update: Global push for trust

The head of a Covid-19 Pasifika advisory group wants to see a former New Zealand Prime Minister leading a global push to re-energise global trust and resourcing to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Colin Tukuitonga launched an online petition on Thursday calling for Helen Clark to take on a new role linking leaders to resources and funding supporting the World Health Organisation. He said the petition would help bring focus back to fighting the pandemic rather than weakening the global body. Dr Tukuitonga said Clark could help galvanise renewed energy and support for the global fight against the coronavirus.

- Health officials in the Northern Marianas say nine patients infected with Covid-19 have now recovered. Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation chief executive Esther Muna said they have been released from the Kanoa Resort quarantine site. She said the nine are now back in their homes but are being closely monitored. 11 people remain in isolation with two testing positive, while the remaining people await their diagnosis. The territory has recorded 16 cases of Covid-19, with two deaths.

- Vanuatu’s Director of Public Health says people who had been kept in quarantine as a precaution against Covid-19 have now been released. Len Tarivonda said, as of Thursday, there were no confirmed or suspected cases of the coronavirus in Vanuatu.

- American Samoa has begun conducting its own Covid-19 tests, with its first samples producing negative results. Last week the territory sent 15 samples to Hawai’i which have also come back negative. Department of Health Epidemiologist Dr Aifili John Tufa said his office took delivery of a testing machine, test kits and swabs last week, which were now in operation. So far 29 people who showed symptoms of Covid-19 have all had tested negative for the coronavirus American Samoa is the only US jurisdiction without a confirmed Covid-19 case.