Isolated Pacific islands hit by Covid-19 outbreaks

In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force, debris from damaged buildings and trees is strewn around on Atata Island in Tonga, on January 28, after the undersea quake and tsunami. Pic/AP

For more than two years, the isolation of the Pacific archipelago nation of Tonga helped keep COVID-19 at bay.

But last month's volcanic eruption and tsunami brought outside deliveries of desperately needed fresh water and medicine - and the virus. Now the country is in an open-ended lockdown, which residents hope will help contain the small outbreak and will not last too long.

"We have pretty limited resources, and our hospitals are pretty small," Tongan business owner Paula Taumoepeau said Friday. "But I'm not sure any health system can cope. We are lucky we've had two years to get our vax rate pretty high, and we had a pretty immediate lockdown."

Tonga is one of several Pacific countries to experience their first outbreaks over the past month. All have limited health care resources, and there is concern the remoteness that once protected them may now make helping them difficult. The nation of 1,05,000 had reported one case of COVID-19 - a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionary returning to the island from Africa via New Zealand who tested positive in October - and authorities debated whether to let international aid in. They decided they had to, but despite strict precautions unloading ships and planes from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Britain and China, two Tongan men who worked at the capital's Queen Salote Wharf handling shipments tested positive on Tuesday.

"Tonga is just out of luck this year," said Samieula Fonua, chairman of Tonga Cable Ltd., that owns the sole fiber-optic cable connecting the nation to the world. "We desperately need some good news."

The Solomon Islands reported its first community outbreak on Jan. 19. With only 11% of its population fully vaccinated, the virus has been spreading rapidly with the Red Cross reporting that less than two weeks later, there are now more than 780 recorded cases and five related deaths. Fiji - still reeling from Cyclone Cody in early January - has been battling a spike in cases fuelled by omicron, and cases have been reported for the first time in Kiribati, Samoa and Palau.

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30,15,863 No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
38,35,09,779 Total no. of cases worldwide
56,93,824 Total no. of deaths worldwide

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