(Majuro) Micronesia, a small Pacific state, has ceased to be one of the few countries free of COVID-19, after cases were confirmed on two of its islands.
Posted at 10:31 p.m.
With the exception of a few isolated and quarantined border cases, the Federated States of Micronesia had escaped the COVID-19 outbreak due to their geographic location, approximately 1,000 miles north of Papua New Guinea.
But two students from the island of Pohnpei, the capital of Micronesia, tested positive after arriving on the island of Kosrae earlier this week.
Local health authorities later confirmed another 10 positive cases among 11 family members of the students.
According to a statement issued by the government on Tuesday, Micronesia is facing “a rapidly evolving situation” and dozens of additional cases have been confirmed in Kosrae and Pohnpei.
The local health authority discouraged public gatherings and advised the wearing of masks, while specifying that “all public services would remain open”.
Subsequent tests also indicated that 25 of 28 patients with flu-like symptoms at a hospital in Kosrae tested positive for COVID-19.
As a result, the Micronesian island of Yap, located about 2,250 km west of Pohnpei, announced on Tuesday that the passengers and crew of a local vessel had been isolated immediately after their arrival.
Following the spread of the coronavirus in Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu are probably the last two Pacific countries that remain unaffected by COVID-19.
Micronesia plans to lift border health restrictions from 1er August, provided visitors present a full vaccination and a negative test result.
When announcing the measures last May, Micronesian President David Panuelo said he hoped the opening of borders would encourage the country’s 100,000 residents, spread across more than 600 islands, to get vaccinated.