The Cook Islands has announced a spike in COVID cases with 15 new infections taking the total to 25 in the island nation.
The Health Ministry, Te Marae Ora (TMO), said on Tuesday (NZ time) 18 close contacts have tested positive for COVID while in quarantine and been subsequently placed in isolation.
TMO said of the 25 cases, 21 are currently in isolation while the rest have completed their isolation periods and been released, having been symptom-free for the last 72 hours of their isolation.
All 25 cases are vaccinated with many experiencing mild COVID symptoms and none have required hospital treatment so far.
TMO announced they will be reducing isolation periods because of the shorter incubation period of Omicron and to better align the Cook Islands with current practice in New Zealand.
"While household contacts – those who live in the same household as a positive case – will still be required to quarantine for 10 days, with PCR tests on days one, five and nine, as of Monday February 28, other non-household close contacts will only be required to quarantine for seven days, with PCR tests on days one and five and a RAT test on day seven," TMO said.
The health ministry in the Cook Islands reminded all its residents of the extreme importance of mask-wearing at this time, as the COVID-19 virus begins to spread throughout our community.
"While our high vaccination rate provides us with a good degree of overall protection from COVID-19, continuing to wear masks indoors, in crowded spaces or on public transport will also help limit the spread of this virus and in turn help protect the more vulnerable amongst us," TMO said.
"This is why it is so very important that we continue to observe our COVID-19 Health and Safety measures by wearing masks, maintaining physical distancing, tagging in with our CookSafe cards and practising good general hygiene."
