Wellington – AFP
The Cook Islands, a small country in the South Pacific, reported its first death from COVID-19, Sunday; And that’s more than two years after the outbreak of the epidemic.
A 63-year-old woman with health problems died while being taken to a hospital on the island of Aitutaki late Saturday.
“We regret to announce the first death linked to COVID-19 in our country,” Prime Minister Mark Brown said in a statement.
“The woman received the three doses of the vaccine, but at the same time she was suffering from health problems,” he added.
The island nation remained untouched by COVID-19 until the mutated Omicron spread after borders were opened to travelers from New Zealand at the beginning of the year.
The Ministry of Health in the archipelago said: It has so far recorded 4,727 cases of Covid-19, including 735 cases that as of Sunday morning were still positive.