New measles cases are continuing to drop with only five new cases reported on Tongatapu between 23 and 29 January while the outer islands reported none.

The last reported case in Vava’u was on 8 January and measles transmission has been interrupted on Ha’apai, ‘Eua and the Niuas, according to the Ministry of Health’s Situation Report [2] dated 30 January.

Since the start of the outbreak in October until 29 January, a total of 652 confirmed or suspected cases of measles had been reported in Tonga including 72 lab-confirmed cases. The majority (574) occurred on Tongatapu and 66 on Vava’u.

The cases were mostly mild with 20 hospitalisations to date, all discharged. There have been no hospitalizations since 25 December 2019. The majority of cases have been managed by home isolation and no deaths were reported.

Around 44,605 people had been vaccinated up to 29 January.

The Ministry of Health verified measles immunisation records for 560 cases out of the 652.

Weekly Epidemic Taskforce meetings are continuing risk assessments to guide the outbreak response and prevention.

The meetings now include preparedness activities for the novel coronavirus outbreak, should it ever reach Tonga.