Tonga now has 342 active COVID-19 cases, the Minister for Health, Hon Dr Saia Piukala confirmed today, March 3.

There were 290 new cases reported between Friday Feb. 25 and today, Mar. 3.

Twenty six new cases were recorded last Friday; 20 on Saturday; 59 on Sunday; 57 on Monday; 100 on Tuesday (83 in Hu’atolitoli Prison); and 28 on Wednesday (10 in Hu’atolitoli Prison).

This brings the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded in Tonga to 645.

While 303 cases were reported to be “recovered”, the Ministry of Health CEO Dr Siale 'Akau'ola clarified to Matangi Tonga later today that the data announced for “recovered cases” also included one positive case that had died from an underlying illness.

Tongatapu and Vava'u

Hon. Piukala said out of the 645 total COVID-19 cases, 637 were recorded on Tongatapu and 7 in Vava’u, plus the one case last year.

“In Vava’u, six have recovered and one person is still in isolation.”

Hon. Piukala said Ha’apai, ‘Eua, and the Niuas are still COVID-19 free.

Recent surveillance COVID-19 testing done in Ha’apai and ‘Eua resulted in negative results.

Meanwhile, reopening travel to these island groups is being considered and will be announced by the government tomorrow.

“This is for those who have been here for a while and want to return and those who will go there to start construction work. There will be a process they need to follow.”

New target population for COVID-19 vaccination

A review of the population health census 2020 used by the Ministry of Health has pushed up the target population for COVID-19 vaccines.

Hon. Piukala said the new target population has increased from 76,911 to 79,806.

This includes children who were 11 at the time of the census ,who have now turned 12, and they will be part of the target population.

This also means the percentages of vaccinations has slightly reduced.

Around 97% of the target population have received their first doses, 88% have received their second doses, while 40% have received booster shots.

At the moment, there are over 6,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine available.

Dr Piukala said with the Cold Chain Storage, vaccines can be stored for up to nine months.

Around 55,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from Australia and UNICEF are expected to be delivered to Tonga on March 14.

The Minister urged people to keep social distancing of 2 metres, wash or sanitize hands often and wear masks to reduce the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.