Wellington Jan. 28 (BUS): When the coronavirus began to spread around the world, the remote archipelago of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean closed its borders, ensuring that the disease did not reach its shores for nearly two whole years, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
Kiribati finally began reopening this month, allowing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a plane to bring home 54 of the island nation’s citizens. Many of those on board were missionaries who had left Kiribati before the border closed to spread the faith abroad for what is known as the Mormon Church.
Officials tested each returning passenger three times in neighboring Fiji, requesting they be vaccinated and placed in quarantine with additional tests upon arrival home.
It wasn’t enough.
More than half of the passengers have tested positive for the virus, which has now infiltrated the community and prompted the government to declare a state of disaster. The number of positive initial cases of 36 rose to 181 by Friday.
Kiribati and several other small Pacific nations were among the last places on the planet to avoid any virus outbreaks, thanks to their remote locations and strict border controls. But their defenses are no match for the highly contagious omicron variant.
“Overall, this is inevitable. It will reach every corner of the world,” said Helen Petosis Harris, a vaccine expert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. “It is a matter of buying enough time to prepare and vaccinate as many people as possible.”
Only 33% of Kiribati’s 113,000 people have been vaccinated, while 59% have received at least one dose, according to the online scientific journal Our World in Data. And like many other Pacific countries, Kiribati provides only basic health services.
Dr Abi Talimaituga, who heads a network of indigenous Pacific Island doctors in New Zealand, said Kiribati had only two intensive care beds across the country and in the past had relied on sending patients to Fiji or New Zealand for treatment. .
He said that due to the limited health system in Kiribati, his first reaction when he heard about the outbreak was, “Oh, my lord.”
Kiribati has now opened several quarantine sites, announced curfews and imposed lockdowns. President Tanetti Mamau said on social media that the government was using all its resources to manage the situation, and urged people to get vaccinated.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in the US state of Utah, has a strong presence in several Pacific nations, including Kiribati, where its 20,000 members make it the third largest Christian denomination. The church has about 53,000 full-time missionaries around the world, working to convert people.
The pandemic has posed challenges to their missionary work, which is a rite of passage for men under the age of 18 and women up to age 19.
As the pandemic ebbed and flowed, the church responded. He. She He summoned about 26,000 missionaries who were serving abroad In June 2020, they were reassigned to evangelize online from home before some were brought back to the field five months later.
When COVID-19 vaccines became widely available in many countries in April 2021, church officials said All missionaries encouraged and required vaccinations from those serving outside their home countries.
Church spokesman Sam Penrod said the returning missionaries have remained in quarantine, are cooperating with local health authorities and will be released from their service when the quarantine is completed.
“With Kiribati’s borders closed since the onset of the pandemic, many of these individuals have continued to serve as missionaries beyond 18 to 24 months of expected service, and some are serving up to 44 months,” he said.
Before the outbreak this month, Kiribati had reported only two cases of the virus: crew members on an incoming cargo ship that was eventually not allowed to dock.
But a Kiribati charter flight was not the first time that missionaries returning to a Pacific island nation had tested positive for COVID-19.
In October, the missionary returned to Tonga from service in Africa Mentioned as the first country in the country – and only so far – a positive case after traveling back home via New Zealand. Like those returning to Kiribati, he has also been vaccinated and placed in quarantine.
Tonga is trying hard to prevent any outbreaks as it recovers from a devastating volcanic eruption And tsunami advance this month. The country of 105,000 is receiving aid from all over the world, but has asked the crews of incoming military ships and planes to drop their supplies and left without any contact with those on earth.
“They’ve gotten enough of their hands without doubling that with the spread of COVID,” said Petosis Harris, a vaccine expert. “Anything they can do to keep her away will be important. COVID is just going to exacerbate that catastrophe.”
In the long term, Petosis Harris said, it will be impossible to prevent the virus from entering Tonga or any other community.
Neighboring Samoa, with a population of 205,000, is also trying to prevent the disease from spreading for the first time. It imposed a closure until Friday evening after 15 passengers tested positive on a flight from Australia last week.
By Thursday, that number had risen to 27, including five frontline nurses who treated the passengers. Officials said all infected people have been isolated and there is no community outbreak so far.
While the virus’s incursion into the Pacific Ocean has led to closures and other restrictions, there have been indications that not all traditional aspects of life on the island will be lost for long.
Kiribati announced on Thursday that “the government has decided to allow fishing,” listing certain restrictions on times and places. “Only four people will be allowed to board a boat or part of a group that is fishing near the shore.”
AOQ