Island nation of Samoa entangled in 1st-ever COVID outbreak

Samoa.
(Image credit: Chikara Yoshida/Getty Images)

The island nation of Samoa is in the midst of its first COVID-19 outbreak, after detecting "its first-ever case of community transmission last week," The Associated Press reports.

The outbreak was initially discovered after a woman leaving for travel tested positive; a "cascade" of positive tests followed, AP writes, indicating "the virus likely had been spreading undetected for days or even weeks."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Brigid Kennedy

Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.