Returned missionary who was Tongas first COVID-19 case now is negative – Deseret News

One of eight Latter-day Saint missionaries returning home to Tonga after completing their missions became Tongas first case of COVID-19, sending the country into lockdown even though his second test was negative, according to news reports.

The young man had completed his mission in Africa and was fully vaccinated, according to Sam Penrod, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The returning missionary spent several weeks in New Zealand on his way home and twice tested negative for the virus before he boarded a government-sponsored repatriation flight that carried 215 people to Tonga on Oct. 27.

Proper COVID-19 protocols were followed, said Penrod.

The passengers were tested again when they landed in Tonga and placed in a quarantine hotel. The test for the returning missionary returned a weak positive result, a doctor with the ministry of health told the news site MatangiTonga.to. The returned missionary has remained in quarantine.

The doctor announced today that the returned missionarys second test, taken Monday, was negative.

Tonga effectively closed its border when the pandemic began in March 2020. Many Tongans who were away when the pandemic struck have been unable to return home.

That includes hundreds, perhaps thousands of Latter-day Saint missionaries, who have seen their mission service extend well beyond the normal two years for men and 18 months for women, according to Elder Vaiangina Vai Sikahema, a General Authority Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Some Tongan elders have been on their missions for three years and sisters over two years, he said during the churchs worldwide general conference last month. They wait patiently with the faith for which our people are known.

Latter-day Saints comprise nearly two-thirds of Tongas population of 106,000. The Ministry of Health reported Tuesday that 64% of Tongas eligible adult population is fully vaccinated, and another 25% have received their first dose of vaccines.

About 68% of Tongans ages 12 to 17 have received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, which became available for teens on Oct. 21, Matangi Tonga reported.

The report of a positive test drove thousands of people to vaccination centers for COVID-19 shots, the news outlet reported.

The countrys intensive care unit capacity for treating severe COVID-19 cases is limited to about five patients, said the Minister of Health, Amelia Tuipulotu.

Another 20 people could be treated at a health center upgraded to care for COVID-19 patients.

Thats why we need over 90% of the eligible population to be vaccinated, she told Matangi Tonga.

The returned missionary is asymptomatic and remains quarantined, Richard Hunter, regional spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ told 1News.

He will be tested again on Friday, said Siale Akauola, the doctor with the ministry of health.

We are happy with this result, which we will test again later this week and confirm, and this is good for his family and this person because the weight of the country must have been on him and the difficulty that he was in, Akauola told MatangiTonga.to.

Despite the weak positive first test and the negative second test, Tonga will maintain the seven-day lockdown that began Tuesday, Tuipulotu said.

The lockdown includes a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. All residents are ordered to stop working and stay inside their homes, except to obtain food, medical supplies or vaccines, or to engage in banking, attend to livestock or respond to emergencies.

Here is the full statement from Penrod, the church spokesman:

A member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who had completed his missionary service in Africa, tested positive for COVID-19 after arriving in Tonga. He was part of a group of eight missionaries who were returning to their home country on a government-sponsored repatriation flight from New Zealand. Proper COVID-19 protocols were followed. The missionary was fully vaccinated and was tested twice before boarding the repatriation flight. While quarantining in Tonga on his arrival, he was retested and tested positive. He remains in quarantine.

Go behind the scenes on whats happening with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members.

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Returned missionary who was Tongas first COVID-19 case now is negative - Deseret News