Pacific

Wallis and Futuna chiefs worried about Covid-19

18:05 pm on 23 October 2020

Chiefs in Wallis and Futuna have called for tighter measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Wallis and Futuna Photo: Supplied

Last week, the territory recorded its first case when a traveller arriving in Wallis from France tested positive but was declared to be asymptomatic.

According to local television, the chiefs on Futuna said their island had no facilities to cope with any pandemic and suggested a limit of flight connections from France to one a month.

The air link from France goes via Tokyo and Noumea in New Caledonia which has a two-week quarantine requirement for arriving passengers.

The report said one suggestion was to repatriate the Covid-19 positive person who was in isolation at the hospital in Wallis.

Until last week, Wallis and Futuna was the only French-run territory without Covid-19.

New Caledonia has been free of community transmission.

It is currently testing 11 people working in the Noumea port after three people on a cargo ship bound for Australia tested positive.