17 Apr 2020

Yap governor declares curfew, public flouting Covid-19 edicts

1:55 pm on 17 April 2020

The governor of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia has declared a nightly curfew because members of the public have been flouting Covid-19 edicts.

Henry Falan yesterday declared a nightly curfew is now in effect from 7pm to 6am in Yap.

"We have been very fortunate to have no confirmed cases in Yap so far. But we have been forced to issue this order because our prior requests for people to stay home and practice social distancing and avoid mass gatherings have not been effective," Henry Falan said.

The governor's orders come after two individuals who had recently travelled from Guam refused to self-isolate after coming out of 14 days of supervised quarantine.

The pair are now being kept in isolation in the Yap State Hospital.

They are among three people in the state for whom contact tracing is underway.

The third person had no travel history but was put in isolation on Tuesday after showing severe respiratory distress; he died of pneumonia the following morning.

Blood samples from the trio have been sent to Guam for testing with results expected back over the weekend.

Sunset in Colonia, Yap.

Sunset in Colonia, Yap. Photo: Wikimedia Commons