Health authorities in Tonga say they are proud of the effort put in to keep Covid-19 out of the country, one year into the pandemic.
The chief executive of the Ministry of Health Dr Siale 'Akau'ola said like many other Pacific countries, Tonga was anxious when news of a new coronavirus started surfacing.
12 months later and Tonga is one of the dwindling number of countries that continues to remain free of Covid-19.
Even throughout the repatriation of Tongan citizens which started in July 2020.
Dr Akau’ola said he is thankful for the support from the Government, Cabinet, the national emergency management committee.
“They were all supporting the ministry of health and the plans that we had developed with the other key partners and the public. None of the people in Tonga want COVID-19.”
Dr Akau’ola said the most difficult thing was implementing quarantine.
He added it was new and no one had any previous training to run a quarantine facility.
The other challenges were the closure of borders that affected travel and the downturn in the tourism industry.
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