Indigenous Andamanese Tribes Could Face Extinction After COVID-19 Cases Reported Among Them

In what could turn out to be a disaster that could wipe out the entire race from the face of the planet, Great Andamanese Tribes family members have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Great Andamanese are an indigenous people of the Andaman Group of Islands. At present, there are about 56 members of Great Andamanese Tribes alive and are living in the Andaman Islands.

survival project/ representational image

Initially, on August 8, 35 members of Great Andamanese Tribes were tested for COVID-19 out of which four tested positive.

Among these four, one person is a non-tribal family member while three were Great Andamanese Tribes. Out of these three people, one tested negative recently while two are still admitted in COVID-19 Isolation Ward of G B Pant Hospital.

Last week again RT-PCR tests were conducted on 36 members of Great Andamanese Tribes out of which again four people were tested positive out of which three are Tribals while another one is a Non-Tribal family member.

The tests were conducted after five staffers of the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) tested positive for COVID- 19 on August 4.

survival project/ representational image

The AAJVS is an autonomous body and advises the administration regarding the protection and welfare of all aboriginal tribes, specifically the Jarawas.

Considering the safety of Great Andamanese Tribes, other than the active cases, all other members of the Great Andamanese Tribal Community who were living in Port Blair have been sent back to Strait Island, which is earmarked for only Great Andamanese Tribes.

¡°Our men are on high alert and have kept dinghies and boats already to evacuate anyone from Strait Island, in case anyone develops any symptoms of COVID19 or any other emergency,¡± an officer said.

Isolated indigenous tribes who do not interact with the outside world are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 as their immunity system is not equipped to fight off viral infections.

BCCL

The remote Andamanese tribes who are believed to be the successors of the first humans to have left Africa was in the news in 2018 when an American missionary who had illegally trespassed into the protected island was killed by the inhabitants of the North Sentinel Island in Andaman and Nicobar.

BCCL

The man, identified as John Allen Chau wanted to convert the Jarawa people into Christianity and had sneaked in there with the help of some local fishermen.

There are just 480 Jarawa people on the island according to records from 2018 by the Administration of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.