Kiribati in the South Pacific recorded almost no corona cases for two years. Then a plane lands again for the first time – and despite tests, brings three dozen infected people.
South Tarawa – For two years, the South Seas state of Kiribati managed to keep Corona almost completely away from its islands – now the first plane that was allowed to land brought 36 infected people to the archipelago.
The plane, coming from Fiji, had 54 fully vaccinated people on board who had taken three Covid tests before departure, all of which were negative, the government said on Wednesday. After arriving in Kiribati on Friday, 36 of the passengers tested positive for the virus. They were taken to a quarantine center. An employee of the center is now also infected.
Because the virus could have spread outside of the isolation ward, the authorities immediately imposed night-time exit restrictions on citizens and introduced a mask requirement. Meetings of more than ten people were banned, and the sale of alcohol was restricted.
The Republic of Kiribati is a coral atoll and island country with a population of around 120,000. The archipelago is located near the equator in the middle of the Pacific. The government closed its borders in March 2020 for fear of the pandemic spreading. Up until the flight from Fiji, only two infections had been recorded, but both on fishing boats and not on land.
Kiribati, with its capital South Tarawa, is one of the poorest countries in the world and, according to the Federal Foreign Office, the medical care options are limited. Emergencies often have to be flown thousands of miles to New Zealand or Australia. dpa
