Fifty people died in Kelikai, Baucau between 1-15 September  - including 23 from the Laisorulai village - and 11 in Manatutu between 9-10 September.

All fatalities were people aged over 60 years and died 2-3 days following fever and difficulty breathing.

Tests are underway to determine if the cause of death was COVID-19.

“People need to access medical help to find out why they are sick,” Odete da Silva Viegas, Timor-Leste’s Director of General Health Services told a press conference on Saturday.

Viegas said some diseases untreated people were dying of “there are cures.”

She said none of the people who died in Kelikai or Manatutu had sought medical help.

Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Health is running a number of COVID-19 education programs aimed at expanding understanding of COVID-19 conditions, focussing on prevention, getting vaccinated and also symptoms.