International
Cook Islands records first ever coronavirus case
The Cook Islands, a collection of small islands located in the South Pacific Ocean, has confirmed its first ever case of the Coronavirus infection, almost two years after the pandemic was reported in other parts of the world.
The remote island country which was one of the few places left in the world that had not reported any coronavirus infections, detected its first case on Monday with the Prime Minister, Mark Brown, saying in a press briefing that the individual who tested positive arrived in Rarotonga, the largest of the Cook Islands, on Thursday.
“The person was tested Sunday after learning that a family member who was a close contact had tested positive in New Zealand the day before.
“The individual was asymptomatic and was isolating and under observation at private holiday accommodations,” Brown said.
Read also: Red alert as more countries detect super-mutant Omicron Coronavirus variant
The Prime Minister added that the remote South Pacific nation had been bracing for a potential spate of infections in recent days after officials announced that a traveler tested positive for the omicron variant upon returning to New Zealand.
“The individual who was confirmed positive was traveling with two others, and they will all remain in isolation until they no longer test positive for covid-19,” Brown said.
He added that officials had begun contact-tracing efforts to track the person’s movements since arriving in Rarotonga and to determine potential close contacts.
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...