French Polynesia confirms first coronavirus case

By Recep Sakar

MELBOURNE (AA) – French Polynesia confirmed the Pacific Islands' first case of the novel coronavirus Thursday.

President Edouard Fritch announced that the carrier was Maina Sage, a member of the country’s French National Assembly, who returned from Paris at the weekend, Radio New Zealand reported.

Reports say Sage had met with French Culture Minister Franck Riester, who has also been diagnosed with the virus.

Sage is now under quarantine at home.

“Travelers entering French Polynesia are expected to have a medical certificate showing they were free of the virus,” reported Radio New Zealand.

The coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, was first detected last December in Wuhan, China but has since spread to more than 105 countries.

The global death toll from the virus is nearly 4,300 with more than 118,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization, which has officially termed the spread of COVID-19 a global pandemic.