Five hundred and ninety-seven days after the World Health Organization first identified the novel coronavirus as a pandemic, the small island nation of Tonga has confirmed its very first case of COVID-19, NPR reports.
Tonga's Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa said that the positive case came from a traveler who'd arrived in the country on a flight from Christchurch, New Zealand, on Wednesday and had been isolating in a quarantine hotel. The traveler was reportedly fully vaccinated and had a negative test result prior to leaving for Tonga. "We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus," Tu'i'onetoa reportedly said in an address to the nation.
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