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Naumia (AFP)
New Caledonia’s remote Pacific region, Kovid-1, is set to go into a tight lockdown after finding nine cases, one of the few places on the planet to avoid Kovid-1, local officials said Sunday.
The French archipelago erupted after the headmaster of a school fell ill in another French region of the Pacific – the leading authorities investigating the cases – in the islands of Vasilis and Futuna.
“According to the first indications, the patient developed symptoms in mid-February and may be infected in Wallis and Futuna by the end of January,” Thiri Santa, head of local government in New Caledonia, told reporters.
Travel between the two French territories was not previously restricted, while those arriving from elsewhere had to undergo a 14-day ordeal at the hotel.
Santa announced a two-week lockdown for New Caledonia from Monday evening, in order to “break the virus transition even though there is still time.”
These islands had previously managed to stop the community transmission of the novel coronavirus, which has reached almost all corners of the globe.
New Caledonia, located on the northwest coast of Australia, Australia, was once used as a penal colony by French authorities due to its remote location.
21 2021 AFP
