At least another 15 people have died of Covid-19 in French Polynesia, raising the death toll of the pandemic to 385.
Figures released by the health ministry show 412 are in hospital care in all of French Polynesia, including Uturoa, Nuku Hiva, 55 patients are in intensive care.
However, for a third consecutive day the government has withheld test results and according to the tally tabled by the WHO, French Polynesia has joined French Guiana and Guadeloupe as French-run Covid-19 hotspots reporting zero cases.
Funeral homes in Tahiti, however, say there has been a notable increase in the number of fatalities and according to Tahiti-infos, the government has confirmed that its official tally now often excludes Covid-19 victims who died outside of hospitals.
Refrigerated containers have been brought in to store up to 48 bodies amid a backlog of funerals, with florists saying they are running short of flowers.
Hospitals are full and there are calls for field hospitals to be set up.
Extra beds in the hall of the Taaone Hospital in Papeete. Covid-19 seemed to have almost disappeared from Tahiti between March and July. But with the Delta variant, it returned with unprecedented violence, saturating the Tahiti hospital centre within a month. Photo: AFP or licensors
Daily new infection case numbers lately exceeded 1,000 and on last official count, the tally of the pandemic had this week breached the 40,000-mark.
After passing a law last week to make vaccinations compulsory for some, the government has published a detailed list of which type of people must be inoculated within two months.
A lockdown remains in force for most of French Polynesia for at least another week.
