PostedAugust 15, 2022, 07:58
CoronavirusThe Marshall Islands declares a state of health disaster
In one week, more than a tenth of the population of the capital Majuro was infected with the Covid-19 variant Omicron.
The country was one of the last to be spared from the pandemic.
AFP
After a few cases were confirmed in Majuro on August 8, the number of Covid-19 infections soared to 2,800 in a town of 22,500. The Marshall Islands has declared a state of health disaster to allow the government to access emergency funding. “We are preparing for the most difficult phase of the outbreak now in Majuro,” Health Minister Jack Niedenthal warned Monday.
And the epidemic continues “to gain strength”, warned the Minister of Health, the number of cases having doubled between Saturday and Sunday. “Almost 75% of people tested are positive, which is an incredibly high rate,” he added. Thanks to strict quarantine rules, the Marshall Islands was one of the last countries in the world to be spared from Covid.
“A trail of powder”
“The good thing regarding having all these other countries that have had it before us is that we really understand how, from an epidemiological point of view, this virus variant spreads: like wildfire” , added Jack Niedenthal. In total, the country has recorded 3,000 positive cases and three deaths for a population of 42,000 inhabitants spread over the islands and atolls.
Domestic Air Marshall Islands flights and public ship transport to remote islands have been suspended since Tuesday in an effort to contain the outbreak. A special flight supposed to bring a medical team to certain islands might not take off because all Air Marshall pilots had tested positive.
To explain this epidemic, suspicions turn to the recent relaxation of quarantine rules and the unprecedented number of arrivals. The government had planned to open its borders and drop mandatory quarantine on arrival from October 1. Several agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, are due to send aid this week.
(AFP)