New Caledonia recorded 16 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday.
Photo: Clotilde Richalet / Hans Lucas
This is the highest single day total since the virus arrived in the territory less than three weeks ago.
A spokesman for the government, Gilbert Tyuienon, says the archipelago "is going through a crisis never seen in its entire history."
Fifty-two people are in intensive care and 323 hospitalized, while health authorities say the peak of the epidemic has yet to be reached.
According to the local hospital, the country is entering the hardest phase of the epidemic and it could last a long time despite measures to try and break chains of transmission.
These include containment and a curfew that will stay in place until 4th October.
New Caledonians suffer from many co-morbidity factors, with 67 percent of adults obese and an estimated ten percent who are diabetic.
These health problems mainly concern the indigenous populations, which also have the most mistrust of vaccination.
A member of the government of Wallisian origin, Vaim'ua Muliava, begged his community to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
