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Tonga: Australian aid ship docks despite Covid cases on board

2022-01-26T08:58:09.941Z


An Australian military ship where an outbreak of Covid-19 appeared docked on Wednesday January 26 in Tonga to land the expected emergency aid...


An Australian military ship where an outbreak of Covid-19 appeared docked on Wednesday January 26 in Tonga to land the emergency aid expected by this South Pacific archipelago devastated by an eruption and a tsunami.

Read alsoFrench Polynesia sends food to the Tonga Islands

Tongan Minister of Health Saia Piukala has indicated that the crew of HMAS Adelaide will unload its cargo "

without contact

", in accordance with the drastic measures in force in this isolated kingdom of 100,000 inhabitants which remains one of the few countries in the world still spared. by the coronavirus. Adelaide is transporting around 80 tonnes of basic necessities including some 250,000 liters of water, medical kits and technical equipment, as part of an international aid effort to help the kingdom isolated after the eruption of 15 January which caused a tsunami and covered the archipelago with toxic ash.

All of the ship's crew had tested negative before they left Brisbane, but 23 cases were discovered on Tuesday.

That number rose to 29 on Wednesday, according to Saia Piukala.

The ship has more than 600 crew members, all vaccinated.

The Australian Department of Defense said on Tuesday that the 23 people who tested positive were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

The boat has 40 hospital beds, operating theaters and an intensive care unit.

Read alsoTonga: race against time to allow the arrival of emergency aid

" Contactless

" protocols

are in place for the disembarkation of goods transported by plane or boat.

Once unloaded, they are isolated for three days before being taken care of by the Tongans.

We can (unload) without having contact

” and spray anti-virus product on the equipment, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said on Tuesday.

"

Under no circumstances will we compromise the health and well-being of Tongans who have already made an immense effort to fight the virus by protecting themselves

."

Disturbing Restrictions

However, restrictions linked to the coronavirus are hampering the arrival of international aid, to which many countries such as New Zealand, France, Japan and China are contributing. Japan has announced the suspension of its airlift between Australia and Tonga after four people tested positive on this mission. “

We are ensuring that the impact on the mission is minimal and once our review of anti-contamination measures is completed, we will continue the mission

,” a defense ministry official told AFP.

French Polynesia announced Friday the shipment to Tonga of food, drinking water and clothing. "

I'm trying to get Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni to come down for an hour, but they haven't made any exceptions for anyone

“, told AFP the coordinator of the mission, Manuel Terai. Two French patrol boats, the Arago from Tahiti and the Glorieuse from New Caledonia, are transporting 40 and 10 tons of freight respectively to Tonga. The equipment will be deposited on an island of the archipelago, according to the needs identified on the spot, before being recovered by the Tongans. The Tonga Islands closed their borders in early 2020 and the archipelago has recorded only one case of coronavirus since, in October. It was a man returning from New Zealand, who recovered and did not infect anyone.

The eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, about 65 kilometers north of the capital Nuku'alofa, caused a tsunami that affected 85% of the population of the archipelago, according to the United Nations.

This " unprecedented

" disaster

, according to the government, left three dead in Tonga and two on beaches in Peru due to waves linked to the tsunami.

According to the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), communications broken after the disaster are gradually being restored and teams have started going to the scene to assess the damage.

The priority tasks are now to remove the ashes and allow the population to have access to drinking water and food.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-01-26

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