This country just found its first COVID-19 case. Now it's preparing for a potential lockdown

she wasn't Uh huh. Mhm. Grief is not something that we get over. It's not something that you can recover from grief is something that you will have to live with for the rest of your life. Oh My brother was Rami C'mon. Um he was only 40 years old. He died on May 10 of 2020, which was actually mother's day. I wanted to also give my mom some sort of peace since we didn't have a ceremony or anything. So my idea was to build this yellow heart and put pebble stones inside of it with his name on it. And that's and at that point I decided to open it up to everybody because the heart would look so empty with just one stone and it obviously and then it just continued to grow. Mm Yeah. Two. I probably have inscribed about at least 2500 of the rocks that you see here today. I'm amazed at the connection that it's creating for others. Mhm. She died in my arms. My wife was a lovely wife. Okay, Everybody loved her. She was the rock of the family. I met her at Coney Island 60 years ago. What a wonderful, beautiful woman. She was coming out here seeing all these shells over here of covid victims. Now with my wife is one that I could come out here from time to time. Let's see the memory that's associated with her. It's a beautiful thing that they did over here. Remember other people for those people. I think there is a need for things like this because there's so much missing from that person's death. You know, let alone the closure itself is missing. But beyond that, like I said, you couldn't be with your family, you couldn't be with anybody. A lot of people say that, how can we create a memorial when we don't have a final number yet? It's 19 years old. You know, I don't think we need to wait for that final number. Creating this community is helping people mourn, and it's helping them get through the process of the grief. Mhm.

The South Pacific island nation of Tonga reported its first case of COVID-19 on Friday, spurring thousands of people to get vaccinated amid warnings of a national lockdown.Tonga was one of only a few countries that had not reported a single Covid case since the start of the pandemic. But on Friday, Tonga's Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa confirmed its first positive case from a passenger who had traveled from New Zealand.The infected traveler arrived in Tonga on Wednesday having flown from Christchurch, according to New Zealand's Health Ministry.The passenger was fully vaccinated, had tested negative in New Zealand prior to the flight's departure, and was discovered among travelers staying at a hotel used for managed isolation and quarantine for new arrivals into the country.Tu'i'onetoa said all airport staff who were in contact with any of the passengers on the flight have been quarantined and he warned Tongans to prepare for a potential national lockdown following the case, according to news website Matangi Tonga."We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus," he reportedly said.Following the news of the positive case, thousands of people rushed to vaccination centers to get their Covid shots, Matangi Tonga reported.Tonga's Minister of Health 'Amelia Tuʻipulotu said the high turnout over the past few days will boost the nation's vaccination coverage."More people are coming forward because now we have coverage of first dose of about 86% and a second dose of about 62%, so this is a major turnout today and will boost the overall coverage of first and fully vaccinated," Tuʻipulotu said, according to Matangi Tonga.Tonga is a Polynesian country of more than 170 South Pacific islands and home to about 100,000 people. The archipelago lies about 497 miles east of Fiji and 1,480 miles from New Zealand.Though it hasn't reported a Covid case until now, the island nation declared a state of emergency in March 2020 and shut its borders to foreign nationals. Like other Pacific island nations, Tonga's early action protected it from Covid outbreaks that could have devastated the country, where 22.1% of the population live below the national poverty line and medical facilities and equipment are limited.But the strict travel measures have severely impacted the economies of Pacific island nations, especially those that rely on tourism.The Pacific nations of Tuvalu and Nauru are among the only countries in the world not to have reported a Covid infection. Turkmenistan and North Korea have also not officially reported any cases, though experts say those claims are unlikely to be true.

The South Pacific island nation of Tonga reported its first case of COVID-19 on Friday, spurring thousands of people to get vaccinated amid warnings of a national lockdown.

Tonga was one of only a few countries that had not reported a single Covid case since the start of the pandemic. But on Friday, Tonga's Prime Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa confirmed its first positive case from a passenger who had traveled from New Zealand.

The infected traveler arrived in Tonga on Wednesday having flown from Christchurch, according to New Zealand's Health Ministry.

The passenger was fully vaccinated, had tested negative in New Zealand prior to the flight's departure, and was discovered among travelers staying at a hotel used for managed isolation and quarantine for new arrivals into the country.

Tu'i'onetoa said all airport staff who were in contact with any of the passengers on the flight have been quarantined and he warned Tongans to prepare for a potential national lockdown following the case, to news website Matangi Tonga.

"We should use this time to get ready in case more people are confirmed they have the virus," he reportedly said.

Following the news of the positive case, thousands of people rushed to vaccination centers to get their Covid shots, Matangi Tonga reported.

Tonga's Minister of Health 'Amelia Tuʻipulotu said the high turnout over the past few days will boost the nation's vaccination coverage.

"More people are coming forward because now we have coverage of first dose of about 86% and a second dose of about 62%, so this is a major turnout today and will boost the overall coverage of first and fully vaccinated," Tuʻipulotu said, to Matangi Tonga.

Tonga is a Polynesian country of more than 170 South Pacific islands and home to about 100,000 people. The archipelago lies about 497 miles east of Fiji and 1,480 miles from New Zealand.

Though it hasn't reported a Covid case until now, the island nation declared a state of emergency in March 2020 and shut its borders to foreign nationals.

Like other Pacific island nations, Tonga's early action protected it from Covid outbreaks that could have devastated the country, where 22.1% of the population live below the national poverty line and medical facilities and equipment are limited.

But the strict travel measures have the economies of Pacific island nations, especially those that rely on tourism.

The Pacific nations of Tuvalu and Nauru are among the only countries in the world not to have reported a Covid infection. Turkmenistan and North Korea have also not officially reported any cases, though experts say those claims are unlikely to be true.

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