The Marshall Islands has declared a state of health disaster after more than a tenth of the population of the capital Majuro was infected in one week with the Omicron variant of the virus responsible for COVID-19.
“We are preparing for the most difficult phase of the outbreak now in Majuro,” Health Minister Jack Niedenthal warned on Monday.
After a few local cases were confirmed on August 8, the number of infections soared to 2,800 in a city of 22,500 people.
And the epidemic continues “to gain strength”, warned the Minister of Health, the number of cases having doubled between Saturday and Sunday.
“Nearly 75% of those 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.
“The good thing about 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,” Mr. Niedenthal added.
“State of health disaster”
Marshall Islands President David Kabua signed a “state of health disaster” on Friday to allow the government access to emergency funding.
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 could 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 Prevention and Control (CDC) in the United States, are to send aid this week, along with, according to Mr. Nidenthal, medical professionals.