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Noumea (AFP)
The remote Pacific region of New Caledonia, one of the few places on the planet that avoided Covid-19, will be strictly closed after nine cases were detected, local officials said Sunday.
The outbreak of the French archipelago was detected after a school principal on the Wales and Futuna islands – another French territory in the Pacific – became ill, which the leading authorities investigated.
“According to initial indications, the patient developed symptoms in mid-February and could be contagious in Wales and Futuna from the end of January,” New Caledonia local government chief Thierry Santa told reporters.
Travel between the two French territories was previously unrestricted, while someone arriving from elsewhere had to undergo a strict 14-day quarantine in a hotel.
Santa announced a two-week shutdown for New Caledonia from Monday night to ‘break the transmission of the virus while there is still time’.
The islands have previously managed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, which has reached almost all corners of the world.
New Caledonia, located on the northwest coast of Australia, was formerly used by the French authorities as a penal colony due to its remote location.
© 2021 AFP