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APIA, Samoa (AFP) — The Pacific island nation of Samoa sealed its borders Friday as it prepares to enter a nationwide lockdown after recording its first case of Covid-19 in the community. The government issued an emergency order suspending all international travel by air and sea in the wake of the positive case, which was detected Thursday on the main island of Upolu. The nation of about 200,000 has been one of the few places […]
Kiribati and Samoa entered lockdowns Saturday after overseas arrivals brought Covid to the Pacific island nations that had avoided the worst of the pandemic for two years. Until this month, Kiribati hadn’t reported a single virus case, while Samoa had only recorded two since the pandemic began, according to the World Health Organization. But authorities in both countries have been forced to put in place stay-at-home orders after the virus was detected in international arrivals. […]
APIA, Samoa (AFP) — Samoa announced its first case of Covid-19 on Thursday, as the coronavirus pandemic continued to spread to previously untouched Pacific island nations. Prime Minister Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi called for calm in the nation of 200,000 after confirming a man who flew into the country last Friday tested positive while in managed isolation. “We now have one case and will be added to the countries of the world that have […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The death toll from a measles epidemic in Samoa has risen to 20 as the outbreak rages out of control, with hundreds of new cases emerging daily, official data released Friday showed. The government said there were 1,644 cases, with 202 diagnosed since Thursday, most affecting young children. It said the number of deaths had hit 20, including 19 children aged under four years old. An additional 11 children are […]
The government of Samoa has set up a consular office in the Philippines. The move is part of the Polynesian country’s efforts to amplify its presence abroad, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. The Philippines, on the other hand, is yet to erect its own consular office in Samoa. In the recent years, though, it has set up several mobile consular offices there to cater to Filipinos, particularly the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW). Alongside this undertaking […]
NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AFP) –International aid began trickling in on Wednesday to areas of Tonga devastated by Cyclone Gita, as Fiji escaped the worst of the storm’s fury. Military aircraft from Australia and New Zealand flew emergency supplies to Nuku’alofa, which was battered early Tuesday by the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the capital. Fiji feared similar destruction when the tempest moved over its southern Lau islands early Wednesday, but initial indications were encouraging. Fiji’s […]
NAKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AFP) — Nuku’alofa awoke to scenes of devastation Tuesday after the most powerful cyclone ever recorded in the Tongan capital tore roofs off buildings, downed powerlines and caused extensive flooding, prompting a state of emergency in the tiny Pacific nation. Veteran disaster management officials were shocked at the fury of Severe Cyclone Gita as it unleashed 230 kilometers per hour (142 mph) winds on Tonga’s most populous island Tongatapu. Historic wooden buildings in […]
NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga (AFP) — Tonga declared a state of emergency Monday as the Pacific island kingdom braces for a direct hit by a powerful cyclone that is threatening to become a Category Five superstorm. Severe Tropical Cyclone Gita has already created havoc in neighboring Samoa and is gathering pace as it approaches Tonga. Acting Prime Minister Semisi Sika issued a nationwide alert, saying he was “satisfied that an emergency is happening or is about to […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Tonga Saturday in the tectonically active Pacific region, but there was no tsunami threat, seismologists said. The tremor hit at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) some 90 kilometers off the Tonga island of Niuatoputapu, and 230 kilometres southwest of the Samoan capital Apia, the US Geological Survey reported. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no current tsunami threat. […]
