Tonga is in lockdown for COVID-19 after having avoided the virus for two years
Tonga had managed to avoid COVID-19, but amid recovery efforts from a volcanic eruption and tsunami earlier this month, the remote Pacific island nation is no longer free from the virus, and is going into lockdown.
Unlike most parts of the globe, Tonga avoided COVID-19 by closing its borders at the start of the pandemic, BBC News reports. But since the natural disasters, foreign aid has come into the country, and even though deliveries have been contactless and supplies have been isolated for three days, the virus has managed its way in.
Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni announced on Tuesday two port workers had tested positive, according to BBC News. Three more cases in family members were later confirmed.
Sovaleni said the nation would go into lockdown Tuesday night and the situation would be assessed every 48 hours. "The most important issue at the moment is to slow down and stop those who have been affected," he said. No boats will be allowed to travel between islands and there will be no more domestic flights, Sovaleni said, according to BBC News.
Following the eruption – which blanketed the nation in toxic ash, poisoned drinking water, destroyed crops and completely wiped out at least two villages – and the subsequent tsunami, ships from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, France, Fiji and the U.K. have been sent to Tonga to deliver aid.
An Australian warship delivered desperately needed aid this week. The ship, however, had been hit with coronavirus, with dozens of crew members infected.
Tongan Health Minister Saia Piukala said the crew of the HMAS Adelaide would follow drastic health protocols to ensure COVID-19 was not spread into Tonga.
The Tongan government, which is investigating, says it does not believe the new cases are linked to those on the HMAS Adelaide. Those who had tested positive on board worked in a different area of the port, and there was no evidence the cases were linked, the Australian Defense Force's operations chief said, according to BBC News.
