After being hit by the tsunami, Tonga’s turn must be locked down due to Covid-19

TONGA, KOMPAS.com – Tonga will enter the situation lockdown as a result of Covid-19 on Wednesday (2/2/2022).

This happened after the corona virus was detected in the small country near New Zealand.

Policy lockdown this was enforced as Tonga was struggling to recover from underwater volcanic eruption which devastated the region in January.

Also read: 23 people on Australian military ship carrying aid to Tonga tested positive for Covid-19

Tonga has been free from the corona virus for a long time.

But, Prime Minister of Tonga George Sovaleni said two men had been found positive for Covid-19 this week in Nuku’alofa.

Quoted from AFP, Wednesday, he said the men had been working in the capital’s port, where humanitarian aid has been pouring in from around the world since the volcanic eruption on January 15, 2022.

In a national address on Tuesday (1/2/2022) evening, Sovaleni said Tonga would enter policy lockdown starting Wednesday at 18:00 local time, with the situation reviewed every 48 hours.

The volcanic explosion near Tonga was one of the largest on record in decades.

The volcanic explosion generated a massive tsunami wave and blanketed the island nation in poisonous ash, and has claimed three lives.

Tonga closed its borders in early 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic swept the world.

Also read: Tonga Tsunami Week: Chronology, Impact and Current Conditions

Since then, the nation of 100,000 has recorded only one case of Covid-19, in a man who returned from New Zealand in October 2021.

Since then, Tonga’s condition has fully recovered, with no Covid-19 cases found.

However, a powerful explosion from the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, located about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku’alofa, created what the Tongan government described as an “unprecedented catastrophe”.

In response, naval vessels from Australia, New Zealand, the United States (US), France and the United Kingdom have sent aid. This includes drinking water, medical supplies, and engineering equipment.

All shipments have been handled using a strict “no contact” protocol in an effort to contain the virus.

Sovaleni did not reveal which ships were used by the people affected by Covid-19.

He said those who came were asymptomatic and were double-vaccinated, along with about 85 percent of Tonga’s population.

Also read: Tonga Tsunami Week: Chronology, Impact and Current Conditions

Australia’s HMAS Adelaide docked at Nuku’alofa to unload aid supplies last week, despite the Covid-19 outbreak that infected more than 20 of its crew.

UN officials at the weekend said drinking water remained the main challenge facing Tonga and about 1,500 people were still displaced.

Communications remain uneven after the eruption damaged the submarine cables connecting Tonga to the rest of the world.

Officials said a specialist cable repair ship was expected to arrive this week and it would take at least two weeks to repair the damage.

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