Port Blair, August 27: The coronavirus (COVID-19) has reached a remote tribe in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to a report by the BBC, four members of the Greater Andamanese tribe have tested positive for COVID-19. Two of the patients have been admitted to a hospital, while the remaining two have been quarantined in a care centre. The endangered Greater Andamanese tribe has a population of little over 50. Coronavirus Reaches Amazon's Remote Yanomami Tribe, 15-Year-Old Boy Dies Raising Concerns.

According to senior health official Dr Avijit Roy, all 53 members of the Greater Andamanese tribe underwent COVID-19 test last week Strait Island, near the capital Port Blair. After the test, four members were found to be infected with the deadly virus. Roy told BBC that many of the tribe's members travel between Port Blair and their secluded island, and may have contracted the infection in the process. Boy From Isolated Amazon Tribe Dies After Being Infected With Coronavirus.

According to India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Andamans and Nicobar Islands has so far reported 2,985 COVID-19 cases and 41 deaths since its first infection was detected in early June. "We are keeping a close watch on movements and mass testing some of the tribes," Dr Roy was quoted as saying. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is home to five vulnerable tribes: the Jarawas, North Sentinelese, Great Andamanese, Onge and Shompen.

The Jarawas and North Sentinelese have not integrated with the mainstream population yet. "It is extremely alarming that members of the Great Andamanese tribe tested positive for Covid-19. They will be all too aware of the devastating impact of epidemics that have decimated their people," Sophie Grigg, senior researcher for London-based Survival International, which works for tribal peoples' rights, was quoted as saying.

After the coronavirus outbreak, more than 450 members of the nomadic Jarawa tribe, who live in a vast forest reserve between the south and middle Andamans, have been already moved and isolated to the farthest part of the jungle, BBC report added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 27, 2020 02:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).