Yesterday, Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni announced the country would go under lockdown starting today. This comes after two COVID-19 cases were detected among the workers handling foreign aid in the capital Nuku'alofa.
According to officials, another three cases of coronavirus were detected among the family members of the port workers. The island nation was largely unaffected by COVID-19, having previously reported only one case of the virus.
Sovaleni said in an address the lockdown was necessary to "slow down and stop those who have been affected". He also terminated all boat and aircraft services between different islands to stop the spread of the virus.
The country was receiving foreign aid from different countries after being heavily affected from the recent Hunga Tonga volcanic eruption and tsunami. The Tongan authorities have stressed a strict "no-contact" policy for handling foreign aid.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Tonga enters lockdown after detecting new COVID-19 cases