The Ministry of Health has shutdown rumours of a Covid-19 lockdown in Tonga.
‘If there was such plan the Ministry will hold a press conference to announce it,’Minster of Health, Saia Piukala reportedly said this morning.
Late last night Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku said on Twitter” Tonga is not going into lockdown this weekend or next week. Certainly looking forward to getting back to Tonga next week and attending uike lotu.”
According to Kaniva News, It appears the rumours stemmed from a report by TBC’s Radio & Television Tonga this week which was meant to highlight their top stories of the year 2022 starting from January.
The broadcaster highlighted the Covid pandemic and when the kingdom went into lockdown after reporting its first community cases of Covid-19, weeks after the massive volcanic eruption and tsunami devastated parts of the archipelago on January 15.
Some Facebook users mistakenly reported the highlight as a new planned lockdown for the country.
Tonga reopened its borders on August 1, after more than two years of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tonga had 16,211 confirmed cases of Covid and 12 Covid related deaths.
Photo screenshot FM87.5 Caption: Minster of Health, Saia Piukala