{O/C} {Turning to news elsewhere}
The remote Pacific archipelago Kiribati reported a spate of COVID cases after remaining COVID-free for nearly two years.
{RVO}
The Kiribati Health Ministry has confirmed that the atoll island has failed to dodge the bullet this time, with 100 COVID infections registered after 37 new positive cases were reported on Wednesday.
In all, 116 people are infected on the island -- 36 imported and 80 local cases.
Now, the reopening of the atoll's borders is to blame for this untoward event. COVID began to gain a toehold in the island nation after a small chartered aircraft carrying 54 of the nation's citizens arriving from nearby Fiji, despite the fact that the returning passengers had already been tested there and been vaccinated.
As it turns out, more than half the passengers tested positive for the virus, which has now slipped out into the community.
Utter fear is hitting home as the government declare a state of disaster. Several other islands close by have been placed under strict restrictions to prevent the virus spiralling out of control.
The country had been keeping its borders shut for almost two years. Although the government has enough vaccines to immunise around 80 percent of its target population, the total inoculation rate is not enough to prevent the virus from running rampant.
Kiribati and several other small Pacific nations were among the last places to have been left untouched by the virus, thanks to their remote locations and strict border controls. But now, amping up their defences is not enough to keep the highly contagious Omicron variant at arm's length.
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