Results for COVID-19

Tonga’s Ministry of Health trusts the World Health Organization’s (WHO) view that asymptomatic transmission of CoVID-19 has not been proven, CEO of the Ministry of Health Dr Siale 'Akau'ola said this week.

The first CoViD-19 PCR testing machine and one x-ray unit arrived in Tonga by container ship on Saturday, 11 April, along with 36 hospital beds donated by a Tongan family, the Ministry of Health confirmed this afternoon. However, the machine cannot be used until testing kits arrive.

An Air New Zealand flight arrived at Fua'amotu International Airport today with medical supplies from New Zealand. The return flight to Auckland has evacuated passengers from Tonga who will undergo health screening and managed isolation in New Zealand.

Twenty-two people were today sentenced to a range of fines between $300 to $1100 pa'anga each for breaching the national lockdown notice, at the Mu'a Magistrate's Court. Another 20 accused will be tried next week.

Three of five people were today sentenced to a fine of $1,000 pa’anga each at the Fasi Magistrate’s Court for breaching restrictions imposed, during the national lockdown. To date, more than 100 people have been arrested and charged by Police for breaching restrictions.

An Australian doctor in Tonga warns that it’s too early for children to return to school tomorrow because we do not know for certain if the recent arrivals in Tonga were free of the virus or just had no symptoms. “If they did pass it to people they have contacted, those contacts may still be incubating the disease...To relax these restrictions now risks an outbreak of the disease, with potentially terrible consequences.” he said. There are no CoViD-19 tests here, so Tonga is “flying blind”.

The protection of all health care workers in the face of CoViD-19 has been highlighted as doctors, nurses, midwives and many others in the industry who work to keep communities healthy are recognized on World Health Day, 7 April.

Three CoViD-19 testing machines and 2000 test kits are expect to arrive in Tonga later this month, although it is still uncertain how they will get here. Meanwhile, the Health CEO warned against public scaremongering: "When people try to force authorities not to accept donations like PPEs to help us fight CoViD-19, it is like the public forcing someone to use a fork and spoon to fight a lion."

As government mandated lockdowns to combat the coronavirus pandemic affect a rising share of the global population, fewer will die of COVID-19, as well as other transmissible diseases. But how should we weigh those benefits against the costs of unemployment, social isolation, and widespread bankruptcies? By Peter Singer and Michael Plant.