As soon as there was community spread of the novel coronavirus outside of Asia, the RMI closed its borders. There has been discussion and debate all year surrounding the possible repatriation of essential workers to the US military base on Kwajalein and Marshallese citizens. The US military successfully convinced the RMI that they could safely bring back essential workers to the US military base. When the US Army negotiated repatriation rules with RMI parliamentarians, US authorities objected to a a 14-day quarantine period in Hawaii. They compromised on a two-phase protocol that included a 7-day quarantine in Hawaii and 21-day quarantine in Kwajalein. Starting June 9, the US army has repatriated an average of 15 workers per week. USAG-KA has brought in 20 groups of essential workers with no incidence of COVID. The Marshallese government prepared quarantine facilities on Majuro but in the end decided that they were not sufficient to repatriate the 300 Marshallese waiting to return, most from Hawaii.
The first border cases of COVID-10 were diagnosed on October 27, 2020 through this repatriation protocol, with 3 Americans testing positive only 1 which was a case of active infection. This was also the first attempt to repatriate Marshallese citizens along with Kwajalein military personnel. The quarantine period for the 16 Americans and 27 Marshallese was extended through the end of November (30 days instead of 21 days). The most recent press release from the RMI Office of the Chief Secretary reports that no new cases of COVID-19 have been identified within the affected repatriation group, the individuals who had previously tested positive have returned negative tests this week, and that all clinical and security staff in the quarantine facility have also tested negative for COVID-19. The 3 individuals who tested positive before will be evaluated for recovery on November 27. All cases are considered border quarantine cases and currently pose no threat to the community.
Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal was quoted by RNZ Pacific correspondent saying, “This isn’t a failure, it’s actually a success. We captured the case in quarantine, not in public. The system worked.” It’s no secret that Niedenthal has had concerns about the risk of repatriation putting the safety over the country over reuniting with his family. President Kabua and the Cabinet have decided to postpone further repatriation of RMI nationals until January. Speaker Kenneth Kedi was quoted saying “To some extent it is a failure because we allowed Kwajalein (the Army) to do what it wanted, to open it to repatriation.” The US Army has conceded at least in policy that the 7-day quarantine in Hawaii was insufficient to catch the Covid-cases before arriving in Kwajalein. American repatriation continues with modifications to the protocol, adopting the 14-day quarantine period in Hawaii prior to travel to Kwajalein. Current COVID-19 press releases, and recorded press conferences are posted on Facebook @rmimoh.