Aid to volcano-hit Tonga brings first COVID outbreak, lockdown

In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force debris from damaged building and trees are strewn around on Atata Island in Tonga, Jan. 28, 2022, following the eruption of an underwater volcano and subsequent tsunami. The international aid Tonga accepted after the disaster has caused the country's first COVID-19 outbreak, and there are worries the isolation that kept Tonga and other Pacific nations virus-free until now will hurt their ability to manage the public health threat.(POIS Christopher Szumlanski/Australian Defence Force via AP) In this photo provided by the Australian Defence Force debris from damaged building and trees are strewn around on Atata Island in Tonga, Jan. 28, 2022, following the eruption of an underwater volcano and subsequent tsunami. The international aid Tonga accepted after the disaster has caused the country's first COVID-19 outbreak, and there are worries the isolation that kept Tonga and other Pacific nations virus-free until now will hurt their ability to manage the public health threat.(POIS Christopher Szumlanski/Australian Defence Force via AP)

By DAVID RISING and NICK PERRY / Associated Press February 5, 2022 6 min read

BANGKOK (AP) – For more than two years, the isolation of the Pacific archipelago nation of Tonga helped keep COVID-19 at bay.

But last month’s volcanic eruption and tsunami brought outside deliveries of desperately needed fresh water and medicine – and the virus.

Now the country is in an open-ended lockdown, which residents hope will help contain the small outbreak and will not last too long.

“We have pretty limited resources, and our hospitals are pretty small,” Tongan business owner Paula Taumoepeau said Friday. “But I’m not sure any health system can cope. We are lucky we’ve had two years to get our vax rate pretty high, and we had a pretty immediate lockdown.”

Tonga is only one of several Pacific countries to experience their first outbreaks over the past month. All have limited health care resources, and there is concern that the remoteness that once protected them may now make helping them difficult.