Kiribati and Samoa on lockdown after COVID arrival on international flights: Coronavirus Update: NPR

Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati, pictured in 2004. The island nations of Kiribati and Samoa in the Pacific Ocean announced a rare COVID-19 lockdown after dozens of international travelers tested positive for the virus. .

Richard Vogel / AP

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Richard Vogel / AP

Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati, pictured in 2004. The island nations of Kiribati and Samoa in the Pacific Ocean announced a rare COVID-19 lockdown after dozens of international travelers tested positive for the virus. .

Richard Vogel / AP

Kiribati and Samoa both implemented a COVID-19 lockdown on Saturday after international arrivals brought the virus, a rarity for remote Pacific island nations.

This is the first pandemic in Kiribati, where previously only two cases of COVID-19 have been reported – both fishermen. shipped in May 2021 isolated person on the ship. nation reopen its borders to travel internationally earlier this month for the first time in almost two years.

Its government announced on Tuesday that 36 of the 54 passengers on the flight from Fiji tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival, despite being vaccinated and testing negative three times during pre-departure quarantine. . They were escorted to an isolation center for further monitoring and testing. One of the frontline workers stationed outside the isolation center also tested positive.

On Friday, The government has confirmed a new case, this time from someone unrelated to the quarantine center.

Based on the latest case, “it is now assumed that COVID-19 is currently spreading in the community in South Tarawa and Betio,” the government wrote on Facebook.

South Tarawa is part of the capital Kiribati and is home to about half of its population, or about 63,000 people.

The 24-hour curfew went into effect on Saturday, and it’s unclear how long the lockdown will last.

Residents can only leave their homes to access emergency or essential services including hospitals, police departments, grocery stores and banks. Essential vendors can only operate during certain hours, public transport will not operate, social gatherings are prohibited, and travel between the outer islands is prohibited.

The government also urges people to get vaccinated. Only about 53% of adults had received two doses by the end of December, according to Radio Kiribati.

In Samoa, Officials announced locked down 48 hours after 15 of 73 passengers arriving on Wednesday’s flight from Brisbane, Australia, tested positive.

Samoa has previously confirmed only two cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization. Some 62% of its population fully vaccinated.

Between Saturday and Monday, all residents with the exception of essential workers are asked to stay home and go out. Businesses, schools and restaurants will be closed, travel banned and mass gatherings banned.

Agafili Tomaimano Shem Leo, President of the National Emergency Operations Center, said that “the day the authorities fear for COVID-19 to invade Samoa is here,” according to a government statement.

“Our country is in a state of national emergency and our security is under siege by COVID-19,” he said, urging the public not to be complacent.

The government says failure to comply with lockout restrictions can result in a $2,000 fine.