Tonga goes into first-ever lockdown after five COVID cases
Disaster-hit Tonga has gone into lockdown after detecting its first community transmissions of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, Aljazeera reported.
The lockdown began at 05:00 GMT on Wednesday, days after the Pacific island nation began receiving foreign aid in the wake of a deadly volcanic eruption that also generated huge tsunami waves around the Pacific.
While the first of Tonga’s community cases were detected in two port workers in the capital, Nuku’alofa, on Tuesday, officials said the men were not on the docks being used by foreign navies to deliver aid.
Australian navy ship the HMAS Adelaide was known to have at least 23 COVID-19 cases on board when it docked at Vuna wharf last week and offloaded 250 pallets of aid to a quarantine zone.
Crew members on board aid flights from Japan and Australia also reported infections.
The workers showed no symptoms but Tongan radio station BroadcomFM reported on Wednesday another three cases had been detected among three of the workers’ family members of the workers, bringing total case numbers to five.
Tonga has previously recorded only one case – in a quarantined traveller returning from New Zealand.
“The most important issue at the moment is for us to slow down [the spread of the virus] and stop those who have been affected. That is the reason for our national lockdown,” Tonga Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni told an emergency press conference on Wednesday.
He said the COVID situation in the country would be reassessed “every 48 hours”, and the government would decide whether to end or extend the lockdown depending on the outcome.
The stay-at-home order means all businesses and schools must close, with only essential services allowed to operate.
Meanwhile, in Australia, officials played down concerns that the crew of the HMAS Adelaide may have been responsible for Tonga’s outbreak.
Tonga’s deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, told the Reuters news agency that the community cases were detected at a different wharf and “not the one that the HMAS Adelaide used”.
“The wharf that had the case is a different one, used for commercial cargoes,” he said.
The Australian Defence Force’s Chief of Joint Operations Greg Bilton also said it did not appear the HMAS Adelaide was the source and samples from the two wharf workers would be sent to Australia for testing to verify the origin of the COVID strain.
“I don’t think there’s any connection, there’s no evidence of that,” he told Sky News.
Tu’ihalangingie also told Reuters the delivery of aid would not change as a result of the COVID-19 cases but that “front-liners will need to be more careful”.
The Tongan government, in a bid to keep the virus at bay, has insisted on contactless delivery of aid, and all pallets unloaded from aircraft or ships are isolated for 72 hours before being distributed by the local emergency service.
Tonga has maintained border restrictions since March 2020, allowing it to contain the virus, while also implementing a nationwide vaccination programme.
According to the health ministry, 83 percent of the eligible population – about 77,000 people over the age of 12 – have been fully vaccinated, while 96 percent have received at least their first dose.
Tonga and several other small Pacific nations, such as Palau and Fiji, were among the last places on the planet virus outbreaks arrived in. The three island nations have also managed to ramp up their vaccination programmes in the last two years.
On Tuesday, the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies warned that a record surge in COVID-19 cases was threatening to overwhelm hospitals and fragile health systems in some other Pacific island nations, including the Solomon Islands, where vaccination is still low.
Omicron subvariant BA.2 likely to have same severity as ‘original’ -WHO
The emerging BA.2 form of the Omicron coronavirus variant does not seem to be any more severe than the original BA.1 form, an official of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Vaccines also continue to provide similar protection against the different forms of Omicron, Dr. Boris Pavlin of the WHO’s COVID-19 Response Team told an online briefing.
The comments come as the BA.2 subvariant begins to replce Omicron’s more common “original” BA.1 subvariant in countries such as Denmark.
Based on data from Denmark, the first country where BA.2 overtook BA.1, there appears to be no difference in disease severity, although BA.2 has the potential to replace BA.1 globally, Pavlin added.
“Looking at other countries where BA.2 is now overtaking, we’re not seeing any higher bumps in hospitalization than expected,” he said.
BA.2 is more transmissible than the more common BA.1 and more able to infect vaccinated people, according to a Danish study which analysed coronavirus infections in more than 8,500 Danish households between December and January.
The subvariant is already becoming dominant in the Philippines, Nepal, Qatar, India and Denmark, Pavlin said.
He added: “Vaccination is profoundly protective against severe disease, including for Omicron. BA.2 is rapidly replacing BA.1. Its impact is unlikely to be substantial, although more data are needed.”
One arrested with one kg gold hidden in rectum
Police have arrested a man in possession of one kg gold from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA).
The detainee has been identified as Dawa Tshering Sherpa of Sindupalchok. He had arrived in Nepal on an Air Arabia flight.
According to a source, Sherpa had brought the gold by concealing it in his rectum.
Sherpa with passport number 09368618 had gone to Dubai on November 16.
SP Bhim Dhakal of the TIA said that Sherpa had brought the gold by concealing it in his private parts and stomach.
Police suspected that something was wrong with the man after he was spotted behaving suspiciously. During the interrogration, he admitted to concealing the gold in his rectum.
He was arrested during the security screening, SP Dhakal said.
Further investigation into the incident is underway, police said.
Westerly wind’s influence to increase from tonight
The impacts of Westerly wind are to rise in different parts of the country from tonight onward.
According to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the prevalence of Westerly wind that has partial impacts in the country right now is likely to increase its influence from tonight.
Light rainfall is likely to take place in some areas of Province 1, Bagmati, Gandaki, Madhes Province and Lumbini Province, said the Department. There are high chances of light snowfall in some places of the hilly and mountainous regions.
The Department has urged the people to adopt necessary safety and precautionary measures to stem the risk emanating from the weather changes. RSS
