Plane carrying aid can't land in Tonga after COVID case reported on board

Aid from Australia that will help people in Tonga.
(Image credit: LACW Emma Schwenke/Australian Defense Force via Getty Images)

An Australian plane carrying aid for Tonga had to turn around mid-flight after it was discovered a person on board tested positive for COVID-19.

An Australian defense spokeswoman told Reuters all members of the flight crew tested negative via rapid antigen tests, allowing them to board the plane. They also took PCR tests before they left, and when the results showed that one person tested positive for COVID-19, the plane was ordered to turn back. The supplies were moved to another aircraft that left Brisbane on Friday.

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
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.