Wellington Jan. 28 (BNA): As the coronavirus began spreading 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, according to an Associated Press report.
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.
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.
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