Coronavirus has spread to isolated communities and the latest addition is the Great Andamanese tribe in India where ten members are reportedly diagnosed with the COVID-19. It has raised concerns over the safety of other communities which were thought ‘isolated’ from the population.
Six people out of these ten infected patients are recovering at home-isolation units and others are getting their treatment from a native hospital.
There are only a few members from the Great Andamanese tribe living today at a small island and the Indian Government provides them with basic necessities. Other islands such as Andaman and Nicobar situated in the Indian ocean have more than 400,000, population and there are at least 2,268 cases reported from these islands with 37 official deaths.
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After this new report on coronavirus reaching to this isolated tribe, the Indian Government is doing everything to provide medical assistance to Strait island. The official team from the Health department has run 37 samples from the Great Andamanese tribe and four of them are diagnosed positive.
Avijit Ray is an official from the Indian Health department, handling the disease management cases in this tribe. He shared that all infected patients are provided with treatment facilities.
He further shared that the Government is trying best to provide everything for making these tribal members healthful and safe from the virus
The researchers report that this island was once home to more than 5,000 people from the Great Andamanese tribe. Their population was somehow stable back in the 19th century when the British laid their feet and settled in the Indian continent.
But after so many local conflicts and wars with the British, their population has drastically reduced. In addition to this, several disease outbreaks such as measles, syphilis, and others have also taken many lives leaving behind only a few people to live.
These limited tribal people are now living with a constant threat of the latest coronavirus pandemic, which is why the Indian Government is trying to provide them all medical facilities. Otherwise, there are high chances that this tribe will completely vanish.
These threats are not only limited to the Great Andamanese people but also for the other tribes such as Jarawa, Sentinelese, and others. Most of these islands live in isolation and are unwelcoming for new people. There are so many cases when anyone invaded their boundaries and their bodies were never found.
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Usually, many of these islands ban the entry of outsiders, and reaching the virus to these communities is itself questionable. In any case, if the pandemic reaches to these tribes, there are high chances for it to spread like anything and take thousands of lives.
All these tribes are living in the Indian territory and India is among the top three worst-hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic. There is a record number of cases being reported every day and it seems like people are failing to comply with the precautions and official recommendations. More than 60,000 people have lost their lives to this virus and now that it has reached isolated areas too; it doesn’t seem like it will slow down anytime soon.
