Thirty-seven new cases of Covid-19 were detected over the weekend, bringing the total number of cases to 132 with 123 still active.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Mark Brown confirmed 22 new cases of Covid-19 – the highest number of new cases detected in a single day so far.

Yesterday 15 more cases were confirmed bringing the total number of cases to 132 with 123 active cases and nine recovered.

PM Brown in a statement on Saturday said given the amount of extra testing carried out last week, it was not surprising that they have picked up 72 new cases over the five days from March 1 to March 5.

Up until Friday, more than 4500 RAT tests, as well as 272 PCR tests were conducted and picked up 57 cases. This is less than 1.5 per cent of people tested returning positive for Covid-19, he said.

Brown said: “This is a very encouraging result – with almost half the entire population of Rarotonga having been tested by now, the fact that we still have less than 1.5 per cent of people testing positive can only be attributed to our very high vaccination rate.”

Also encouraging is the continued turnout of people getting themselves and their children vaccinated, with another 531 doses delivered at Rarotonga Hospital on Friday, including 11 young ones getting their first paediatric dose and 447 getting their second dose, he added.

“This is excellent news, and means that in just six hours (on Friday) we were able to fully vaccinate almost a quarter of our eligible 5 (to) 11-year-old population.”

The paediatric vaccination figure was expected to rise considerably on Saturday.

“To all of our people who have taken the time to either get themselves tested, vaccinated or both this week – meitaki ma’ata. Your efforts are a major factor in the success we are having in managing this virus,” Brown said.

“My sincere thanks also to our incredible staff, volunteers and officials at Te Marae Ora, in our Punas, and from all the many other government departments and teams we have working together to combat Covid-19 and its effects.

“Beating Covid-19 and protecting our communities is a responsibility we all share, both as a government and as a people. It is something we must do together, and so far, I have to say that I think we are all doing a great job.”