Micronesia Among the Last Nations to Report COVID-19 Cases
2022-07-21
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1Micronesia has likely become the final nation in the world with a population of more than 100,000 to experience an outbreak of COVID-19.
2For more than two-and-a-half years, the Pacific island nation successfully avoided any outbreaks because of its physical isolation and border controls.
3People who flew into the country with the virus did not spread it because all new arrivals were required to quarantine.
4But those defenses could not keep out the highly infectious omicron version of the virus forever.
5On Tuesday, Micronesia's government announced it knew of several cases across two of the nation's four states.
6Officials said that in Kosrae State, 25 people were confirmed to have the virus after showing up at a local hospital.
7An additional 10 people from a family of 11 tested positive after a medical team visited them.
8Officials said they had also found seven community cases in the state of Pohnpei.
9State leaders there have asked all locals to avoid public gatherings and to always wear masks.
10The outbreak comes less than two weeks before Micronesia planned to end its quarantine restrictions and reopen its borders on August 1.
11Last year, Micronesia became one of the few countries to put in place a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all citizens who are eligible, or able, to get one.
12It threatened to withhold federal money from any individuals or business owners who did not follow the rules.
13As a result, it has had high vaccination rates.
14Almost all nations in the world have now experienced COVID-19 outbreaks.
15The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan is the only other country with more than 100,000 people that has not reported any cases.
16Experts believe that there has likely been a major outbreak there that the secretive country has chosen to ignore.
17There has also been mixed information from North Korea.
18In May, North Korea publicly admitted it had a COVID-19 outbreak.
19Since then, it has reported 4.8 million cases with people having high body temperatures.
20But state media identified only a small number of them as confirmed COVID-19 patients.
21North Korea has a lack of COVID-19 testing supplies.
22I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Micronesia has likely become the final nation in the world with a population of more than 100,000 to experience an outbreak of COVID-19. 2For more than two-and-a-half years, the Pacific island nation successfully avoided any outbreaks because of its physical isolation and border controls. People who flew into the country with the virus did not spread it because all new arrivals were required to quarantine. 3But those defenses could not keep out the highly infectious omicron version of the virus forever. 4On Tuesday, Micronesia's government announced it knew of several cases across two of the nation's four states. 5Officials said that in Kosrae State, 25 people were confirmed to have the virus after showing up at a local hospital. An additional 10 people from a family of 11 tested positive after a medical team visited them. 6Officials said they had also found seven community cases in the state of Pohnpei. State leaders there have asked all locals to avoid public gatherings and to always wear masks. 7The outbreak comes less than two weeks before Micronesia planned to end its quarantine restrictions and reopen its borders on August 1. 8Last year, Micronesia became one of the few countries to put in place a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all citizens who are eligible, or able, to get one. It threatened to withhold federal money from any individuals or business owners who did not follow the rules. As a result, it has had high vaccination rates. 9Almost all nations in the world have now experienced COVID-19 outbreaks. 10The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan is the only other country with more than 100,000 people that has not reported any cases. Experts believe that there has likely been a major outbreak there that the secretive country has chosen to ignore. 11There has also been mixed information from North Korea. In May, North Korea publicly admitted it had a COVID-19 outbreak. Since then, it has reported 4.8 million cases with people having high body temperatures. But state media identified only a small number of them as confirmed COVID-19 patients. North Korea has a lack of COVID-19 testing supplies. 12I'm Ashley Thompson. 13The Associated Press reported this story. Ashley Thompson adapted it for VOA Learning English. 14___________________________________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16isolation -n. the state of being separated from others 17quarantine -v. to keep a person away from others to prevent a disease from spreading 18positive -adj. showing the presence of something, such as a test for a disease 19___________________________________________________________________ 20What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 21Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.