#Four members of remote tribe in India test positive for COVID-19

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The sea off the rocky base at Port Blair in the far-off Andaman Islands.
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Four members of a remote tribe in India — with only 50 members left — have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Members of the Great Andamanese tribe, who have lived in the far-off Andaman Islands at the juncture of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea for thousands of years, were recently tested for the virus.

Four men living on one of the coral-reef islands in the archipelago were confirmed to have the bug, according to Dr. Avijit Roy, who is leading the fight against COVID-19 on the islands.

They have since been moved to a hospital, Roy said.

The men may have been infected when they traveled to the main Andaman Islands, officials said.

Only 50 members of the tribe remain after thousands were killed by British colonizers in the 19th century or later died of diseases.

“It is extremely alarming that members of the Great Andamanese tribe tested positive for COVID-19,” said Sophie Grig, a senior researcher at London-based Survival International. “They will be all too aware of the devastating impact of epidemics that have decimated their people.”

India reported 75,760 new coronavirus infections Thursday, the highest single-day rise since Aug. 7, according to a Reuters tally.

India has seen about 3.3 million coronavirus cases, behind the US at about 5.8 million and Brazil with around 3.7 million, Johns Hopkins University stats show. More than 60,000 people in the country have died from COVID-19.

With Post wires