'This scares us': Inside the island nation facing first Covid wave
Less than three weeks after the Pacific nation of Tonga was devastated by a tsunami, the country is now facing a new disaster with the arrival of Covid-19.
Until recently, Tonga was one of the few remaining countries in the world untouched by the virus.
But amongst aid and imported goods arriving from overseas, the nation’s first two community cases were discovered – which quickly turned into five cases – sparking a snap 48-hour lockdown.
“People are worried, they’re scared,” Tongan journalist Marian Kupu told Yahoo News Australia.
“This is new for Tonga. We’ve been Covid free for almost two years now and this scares us. We’re more cautious now, and we do follow the rules that are laid out by the government to stay indoors.”
In the hours before the lockdown, long lines formed at shops and petrol stations as residents stocked up on supplies.
On the first day of the lockdown, Ms Kupu described the city as a “ghost town”.
She said some residents may have a hard time coping in lockdown, “especially those who were badly affected” by the recent tsunami.
“They have temporary tents to live in,” she explained, as some villages and smaller outer islands were completely destroyed by the wall of water.
“I’m hoping we won’t have any death toll in response to this.”
Four people were killed in the tsunami, which was triggered by the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcano, 65km northwest of the capital, Nuku’alofa.
On Friday, the government announced the lockdown would be extended until Sunday, though shops, banks and petrol bowsers would be allowed to open on Saturday.
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Urgent call for rapid Covid tests
Ms Kupu said the outbreak has pushed residents to get vaccinated, but there was an urgent need for rapid antigen tests.
“We just need to get those rapid antigen tests. We tried to ask the minister of health for that, and he said yesterday they’re working on it.
“But for us here personally it’s a bit too slack.”
Worker’s family infected with Covid
The two initial cases were wharf workers, and while it remains unclear how they became infected with Covid, it’s been confirmed that Australia’s aid ship, the HMAS Adelaide, had no connection with the outbreak.
Tonga’s Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni said the two men had no contact with the ship or the supplies it dropped off.
On Wednesday, one of the worker’s wife and two children returned positive tests, upping the case total to five.
By Thursday, one of the original cases tested negative, and the number of active cases was revised to four. A total of 389 port workers were also tested, all producing negative results.
Boy killed while trying to clean up volcano debris
An eight-year-old boy was tragically killed while cleaning volcanic ash off a house in the village of Kolofo’ou.
The boy was electrocuted as he attempted to climb a ladder to fetch a brush that had been left on the roof.
It’s believed the house had electrical faults, a Tonga Power Limited spokesperson told local radio station 87.5FM.
He was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.
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