Tonga: Australian ship carrying humanitarian aid docks despite Covid outbreak on board
The Australian military ship as it leaves Brisbane for Tonga on January 20, 2022. CPL Robert Whitmore Australian Defense Force/AFP
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2 mins
International aid continues to arrive in the Tonga Islands after the volcano eruption killed three people and affected more than 80,000 people.
But on Tuesday, one of the Australian Navy ships en route to Tonga discovered 23 people on board tested positive for Covid-19.
A delicate situation because the archipelago is one of the countries which have not been affected by this pandemic.
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With our correspondent in Wellington,
Richard Tindiller
With only one positive case of Covid-19 in two years, the
Tonga Islands
intend to remain among the very few countries in the world (less than ten in total) spared by the pandemic.
To protect itself from the virus, the archipelago lives cut off from the world or almost, in the middle of the Pacific.
But after being devastated by a volcanic eruption and tsunami,
his need for assistance makes him much more vulnerable
.
On Wednesday January 26, an Australian military ship where 23 people tested positive for Covid-19 docked in Tonga on Wednesday to land 80 tonnes of basic necessities.
Doctor Saia Piukula, Minister of Health in Tonga, explains how the archipelago intends to protect itself from this Australian ship.
“
The Australian Navy boat will dock but far from our shores.
There will be no physical contact with crew members.
And the goods will be quarantined for 72 hours before being distributed
,” he explains.
Disinfected and quarantined food
Logistics put in place by the Tongan government from the start of the health crisis to avoid any contamination of the population.
Another device: on board the Australian ship, everything is done to isolate the members of the crew who have tested positive.
"
The people on the boat who are positive are already in isolation
," she says.
The ship also has 40 medical beds and intensive care services.
The Australians will unload the humanitarian aid on the wharf and they will disinfect the food themselves before we can collect it.
»
The Tonga Islands must be extra vigilant: only 60% of the population is currently vaccinated.
In the coming days, more than 25 containers will arrive in the Tonga Islands.
Shipments from New Zealand which is currently facing an upsurge in the Omicron variant.
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To read also:
Covid: containment of the islands of Samoa and Kiribati, the arrival of complicated aid in Tonga
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