Tonga goes to lockdown; Covid case not at international aid port. SYDNEY, Feb. 2 (Reuters) - Tsunami-stricken Tonga said two wharf workers had come down with COVID-19, prompting the former virus-free country to go into lockdown on Wednesday, but watershed workers were not on the dock used by foreigners. To provide naval assistance.
International ships and aircraft delivering much-needed water, shelter and food are expected to arrive in the isolated Pacific nation after a devastating volcanic eruption raises the risk of an epidemic. Only one previous COVID case was recorded in Tonga.
The Australian Navy ship, the HMAS Adelaide, was reported to have 23 covid cases aboard a dock at Roast Dock last week and offloaded 250 support pallets in a quarantine zone.
Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tuihalangi, told Reuters that the two cases had been identified at a different terminal and "not what HMAS Adelaide used."
"The wharf where the case was located is a different one used for commercial cargo," he said.
"The frontliners need to be more vigilant," he said.
Greg Bilton, chief of joint operations for the Australian Defense Forces, said it did not appear HMAS was the source of Adelaide and that samples of the two WORF personnel would be sent to Australia to verify the source of the covid strain.
"I don't think there's any connection, there's no evidence," he told Sky News.
Tongan radio station BroadcomFM reported on Wednesday that three more cases had been identified in one family, bringing the total number of cases to five.
Tongans lined up at shops and banks on Wednesday before the lockdown began at 6pm, as authorities tried to stop the spread of COVID.
Health authorities were conducting booster shots to the public on Wednesday, with more vaccine booster doses coming from Australia and New Zealand. About 83% of the eligible population received two doses of the vaccine.
In addition to HMAS Adelaide, three New Zealand and one British naval vessel and two Chinese fishing vessels from Fiji arrived at the port and unloaded aid pallets. Ships from the French, Japanese and Chinese navies are also carrying aid.
The Tongan government insists on uncontacted delivery of aid, and all pallets unloaded from the plane or ship are separated for 72 hours before being delivered by the local emergency services.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Tongan authorities said two workers at Queen Salute Wharf who tested positive were vaccinated and it was unknown whether their omikron was a variant.
0 Comments