After more than two-and-a-half years without any community transmission of COVID-19, Tuvalu is now responding to its first community cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) and partners are supporting the Pacific island nation’s emergency response.
Routine surveillance uncovered two cases on 2 November 2022 that could not be linked to recent travel, making Tuvalu the last full WHO Member State in the Western Pacific Region to experience community transmission of COVID-19.
The Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs has since detected a total of 443 cases as of 9 November following the rapid launch of a widespread contact tracing campaign in collaboration with the Tuvalu Red Cross. To date, almost all of these cases are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms and have been asked to isolate and recover at home, with just two cases currently hospitalized. Vaccination rates are high, with 97% of the eligible population (5 years and above) having received at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 81% of the eligible population having also received at least one booster.
“This is it – the moment we have all been preparing for,” said Lily Tangisia Faavae, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Gender Affairs. “We have been blessed with having much more time to prepare than the rest of the world and to launch our response based on more in-depth knowledge of the virus and what works against it. That, plus the fact that we have been able to benefit from the life-saving protection of COVID-19 vaccines, gives us a huge advantage.”
“However, we still have a lot of work ahead of us over the coming weeks to protect the vulnerable members of our communities. Our health workers, Red Cross and government colleagues are already out there responding, but we all have a role to play in keeping each other safe. We are a team, all 11,000 of us in Tuvalu, and we all need to ensure that we are fully vaccinated and that we carry out all the other protective measures such as wearing our masks, cleaning our hands regularly, limiting time in crowded places and staying at least 6 feet away from other people. It's also important that we all know what to do if one of our loved ones gets sick. Together, we can get through this and save countless lives.”
PCR testing cartridges on their way to Tuvalu. Photo: WHO/Drew Chandler
WHO has been supporting Tuvalu’s efforts to boost its emergency response capacity for many years, with COVID-specific preparedness efforts launched in January 2020 on top of more than a decade of more general health emergency preparedness work carried out under the Asia Pacific Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies. In partnership with WHO and with funding support from the European Union and the United States, the Ministry has stockpiled COVID-19 response supplies, rolled out COVID-19 vaccines, engaged communities, trained health workers, and developed standard operating procedures detailing how they would respond to various transmission scenarios. The Organization recently delivered a further 6000 PCR testing cartridges to facilitate COVID-19 laboratory testing, for example, with another 3000 cartridges currently in transit on their way to Tuvalu.
“To the people of Tuvalu, please know that you have our support,” said Dr Jun Gao, Officer in Charge, WHO South Pacific. “We are in constant communication with our health ministry counterparts and are providing advice, training and supplies as needed. WHO is behind you as you face this virus.”
On top of dealing with COVID-19, Tuvalu declared a state of public emergency this week due to ongoing extreme drought. WHO is similarly supporting the country’s drought response, including through the delivery of 100,000 water purification tablets.