Three new Covid-19 cases have been confirmed in Tonga, bringing the total number to five.
In a press conference in Nuku'alofa this afternoon, Tonga's Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku said that a woman and her two children had tested positive for the virus.
The latest transmission comes less than 24 hours after two men were confirmed to have contracted Covid-19 yesterday.
The two men are port workers and are currently confined in isolation at Taliai Camp, a Tongan military base. The pair had been collecting emergency supplies from foreign aid ships arriving in Tonga, and were among 50 frontline workers who had been tested for the virus.
Tonga's Prime Minister did not reveal which ships the men had collected supplies from, leaving the source of the transmissions open to speculation. Nuku'alofa harbour is reportedly full of supply ships laden with aid, including Australian Royal Navy ship HMAS Adelaide, which had confirmed before arriving to Tonga that 29 of its crew were in isolation aboard after testing positive for Covid-19.
Tonga's Prime Minister Hu'akavameiliku. Photo / RNZ Pacific/Koro Vaka'uta
Tonga's Parliamentary Speaker, Lord Fakafanua, told RNZ Pacific today that it was not clear how the two men had contracted the virus.
He said that the Covid-19 outbreak could not have happened at a worse time, with Covid-19 restrictions interfering with much-needed aid deliveries. The Kingdom is still in the early stages of recovery from the devastating Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption and tsunami that left hundreds of Tongans homeless and properties damaged last month.
"The Prime Minister has reassured me this morning that the aid that is currently being distributed in Tonga will continue, the work that his majesty's armed forces is doing on the ground will continue under the lockdown because they are an essential service," Lord Fakafanua said.
The Speaker of the House, Lord Fakafanua. Photo / RNZ Pacific/Koro Vaka'uta
The country is polluted with volcanic ash that has fouled water supplies and carpeted the land with dust.
Two weeks after the disaster, telecommunications are yet to be re-established in most of Tonga, with no outsiders being able to make mobile or phone calls into the Vava'u and Ha'apai group of islands.
Lord Fakafanua also said there were worries about a potential Covid-19 outbreak in Vava'u, as a close contact of one of the new Covid-19 cases in Tonga had visited Vava'u over the week.
The government has stepped up contact tracing measures in order to ring-fence community transmission of Covid-19.
Lockdown rules in Tonga will require everyone to remain at home, to practice social distancing, and to wear face masks in public. Essential workers are exempted from restrictions of movement, such as Red Cross and aid distribution personnel, who would be allowed to operate freely.
According to Tonga's Ministry of Health, more than 83 per cent of the eligible population (over the age of 12) have been fully vaccinated. Exactly 73,938 people (over the age of 12) having been vaccinated at least once, representing 96 per cent of those eligible.
The Tongan Government stated at last night's press conference that the lockdown would be reassessed in 48 hours.
