Covid-19: Lockdown on Tokelau as first community case is confirmed

A vaccination centre on Nukunonu, August 2021. Photo / Government of Tokelau

By RNZ

Tokelau has confirmed its first case of community case of Covid-19 and a lockdown has been imposed.

A spokesperson for the government has confirmed to RNZ Pacific the small nation of three atolls announced the first-ever case on Sunday.

Up until now Tokelau, which is a dependency of New Zealand, was the last remaining country along with Turkmenistan to not have experienced community cases.

The case is located on Nukunonu, the largest atoll in Tokelau.

Tokelau has now been plunged into lockdown.

The index case doesn’t know how they contracted the virus.

Work is underway to establish how the virus entered the community.

In January, Tokelau experienced its first cases of the virus at the border.

All five people who tested positive then tested negative and were able to join the community and attend a wedding.