[Source: Supplied]

The people of Rukua Village on Beqa Island are awaiting their COVID test results after medical teams’ swabbed residents yesterday.

Turaga-Ni-Koro, Ilaitia Sese says with cases emerging in neighboring villages, they’re hoping that Rukua will remain COVID-free.

Sese says most of the villagers now believe that vaccination is the only protection against COVID-19.

“Over 50 percent of the villagers have received their second dose and over 95 percent have received their first dose. The MOH team was in the village this morning to take our samples. We are just hoping that we remain COVID-19 free. We have over 250 villagers and if the virus gets to our village, it will be a challenge for us. We are working to keep everyone safe by not allowing any other visitors to enter our village.”

He says villagers are working closely with medical teams to conduct contact tracing, screening, and swabbing.

There are currently over 60 active cases on the Island.

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