Tonga residents face another struggle as the Pacific island nation enters lockdown after recording two local cases of the coronavirus in the aftermath of two environmental disasters.
Authorities reported that there were two positive cases recorded among frontline workers at a port in the capital Nuku'alofa. The area is where officials continue to provide aid in support of recovery efforts. Tonga Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni announced the news during a press conference.
Tonga Enters Lockdown
The archipelago was one of only a small number of countries that did not report a single COVID-19 infection due to immediately closing its borders in March 2020. But in November 2021, a traveler who came from New Zealand was found positive for the virus and was later picked up in the country's quarantine hotel system. The incident also caused the region to enter lockdown to contain the infection.
On Tuesday, Tonga health minister Saia Piukala said that the two reported cases, who were both males, showed no symptoms of the infection. The official added that the infected were found following increased testing of frontline workers at the port, as per CNN.
Sovaleni said that the lockdown would Start from 6:00 p.m. local time (0500 GMT) on Wednesday. The official noted that authorities will continue to monitor the situation and review the lockdown every 48 hours.
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The prime minister said that the most pressing issue at the moment was to slow down the spread of the infection and mitigate the number of people exposed to the individuals. Sovaleni also announced that no boat will be allowed to travel from one island to another and that all domestic flights will be grounded.
BBC reported that the small remote island suffered a devastating volcanic eruption weeks earlier that triggered a tsunami that flooded the region. Tonga authorities heavily relied on foreign humanitarian aid that countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, led in bringing supplies of fresh drinking water, shelter kits, and rescue equipment.
Environmental Disasters
Authorities were unsure whether or not the new COVID-19 cases were connected to the Australian Navy ship, the H.M.A.S. Adelaide, which was stranded at Nuku'alofa last week. The Australian government previously reported that among the crew of the vessel, 23 people tested positive for the coronavirus and were forced to isolate themselves.
A United Nations spokesman said that Adelaide docked at the port to deliver aid and machines were unloading cargo at the time. Tonga's lockdown involves schools shutting down and mass gatherings and travel being banned across the region's 169 islands.
The previous natural disasters, the volcanic eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano and subsequent tsunami with up to 50-foot waves, affected several islands. The eruption also damaged the region's only fiber optic cable. This has caused many residents to lose access to the internet and officials expected that repairs would take weeks to finish. This has caused concerns among the country's people as they struggle to recover from the devastation of the subsequent disasters, according to the New York Times.
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