| COVID-19 pandemic in Nauru | |
|---|---|
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Nauru |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, China |
| Index case | Denigomodu |
| Arrival date | 2 April 2022 |
| Confirmed cases | 5,393 [1] |
Deaths | 1 [1] |
| Fatality rate | 0.02% |
| Vaccinations | |
The COVID-19 pandemic in Nauru is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Nauru on 2 April 2022.
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. [2] [3]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, [4] [5] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. [6] [4]
By March 2020, the government declared a national emergency as a preventive measure, suspending all but one weekly flight to the country and instituting a 14-day quarantine for all arrivals. [7] By June 2020, the government had formed a COVID-19 Taskforce. [8] On 14 December, a historical case was identified on a shipping vessel. Since the case remained on board, it was not considered to have entered Nauru. [9]
On 2 April 2022, Nauru recorded its first two cases of COVID-19. [10] [11] At the end of April 2022, two other cases were detected from incoming travelers and were contained in a quarantine facility. [12] [13] By 2 May, in reporting to the WHO, there were five confirmed COVID-19 cases; 22,976 vaccines doses administered, accounting for 79% of the population with two doses and 49% with the booster. [14] On 21 June, Nauru reported its first community case. In addition, a total of 337 tested positive for COVID-19. [15] Nauru recorded its first and only death from COVID-19 on 1 July, of Reanna Solomon, a weightlifter who was the first female Nauruan athlete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal. [16] [17] The number of cases continued to rise for the remainder of the year.
By early March 2023, the total cases had reached 5,393 and no new cases were recorded after. [18] By July 2023, the government disbanded the COVID-19 Taskforce, redirecting COVID-19 cases to the Republic of Nauru Hospital. [19]