Jump to content

COVID-19 pandemic in the British Indian Ocean Territory

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

COVID-19 pandemic in the British Indian Ocean Territory
DiseaseCOVID-19
PathogenSARS-CoV-2
LocationBritish Indian Ocean Territory
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Arrival dateNovember 2020
Confirmed cases5[1][2]
Suspected cases0
Recovered2
Deaths
0

The COVID-19 pandemic in the British Indian Ocean Territory 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 Diego Garcia of the British Indian Ocean Territory in November 2020.[1][2]

Background

[edit]

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 City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[3][4]

The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[5][6] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[7][5] From 19 March 2020, Public Health England no longer classified COVID-19 as a "High consequence infectious disease".[6]

Timeline

[edit]

In November 2020, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed at Diego Garcia.[1] A month later in December, the second case, a close contact of the first case, was confirmed.[1] In May 2021, three more cases were confirmed from a flight. The personnel arrived at the island in April.[2]

Impact

[edit]

Though the British Indian Ocean Territory did not have a permanent population at the time of the pandemic, the Chagos Islanders whom used to live there were subject to COVID-19 restrictions. An appeal for a £40 million fund set up by the British government to assist Chagos Islanders to be used for COVID-19 support, was mostly not agreed to.[8]

Despite the low numbers of cases, enforcement by the British authorities against illegal fishing in the Chagos Marine Protected Area was hampered by COVID-19 protocols. This was because they prevented British Indian Ocean Territory personnel from boarding suspect vessels.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 4 "In the Studio with Capt. Blizzard". www.facebook.com. AFN Diego Garcia. 1 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 "In the Studio with Capt. Blizzard". www.facebook.com. AFN Diego Garcia. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  3. ↑ Elsevier. "Novel Coronavirus Information Center". Elsevier Connect. Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. ↑ Reynolds, Matt (4 March 2020). "What is coronavirus and how close is it to becoming a pandemic?". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Crunching the numbers for coronavirus". Imperial News. 13 March 2020. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "High consequence infectious diseases (HCID); Guidance and information about high consequence infectious diseases and their management in England". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "World Federation Of Societies of Anaesthesiologists – Coronavirus". www.wfsahq.org. Archived from the original on 12 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. ↑ McQue, Katie (3 May 2020). "£40m for islanders exiled from British territory goes unspent". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
  9. ↑ Collins, C.; Kerry, C.; De Vos, A.; Karnad, D.; Nuno, A.; Letessier, T. B. (2023). "Changes in illegal fishing dynamics in a large-scale MPA during COVID-19". Current Biology : Cb. 33 (16): R851–R852. Bibcode:2023CBio...33R.851C. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.076. PMID 37607477. Retrieved 1 November 2026.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_British_Indian_Ocean_Territory&oldid=1383164961"