Tahiti opposition wary of Covid-19 alert downgrade

4:28 pm on 29 April 2020

French Polynesia's opposition Tahoeraa Huiraatira party says schools should remain closed until September because of the continued risks posed by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Gaston Flosse

Gaston Flosse Photo: AFP

The president Edouard Fritch and the French High Commissioner Dominique Sorain announced yesterday that schools in Tahiti and Moorea would reopen from 18 May while a raft of other restrictions will lapse tomorrow.

In a letter, the Tahoeraa leader Gaston Flosse said going too fast now could be a mistake.

He said people were led to believe that the virus had disappeared after the health minister declared last week that the virus had been stopped.

Yesterday, however, two more people tested positive for Covid-19, raising the tally to 58.

The Tahoeraa leader highlighted the low number of tests performed to date, saying just 0.8 percent of the population had been checked.

He also raised the lack of masks, suggesting the government had paid China for millions of them but still not received them.

Addressing Mr Sorain, he said he wished the crew of the French military cargo plane sent to Tahiti for a month, 'a nice holiday'.

To fly missions in the region, the planes of Air Tahiti Nui, Air Tahiti and Air Archipel should suffice, Mr Flosse added.