Fifty percent of Liquicia’s population were tested for the fast-spreading virus after two teachers working in the district were diagnosed with the disease late April. All results were negative, said Dr Rui Maria de Araujo, spokesperson for the government’s Integrated Crisis Management Centre (CIGC).

Negative results were also found in people suspected of coming into contact with a nurse who contracted the virus while treating COVID-19 patients at the Vera Cruz hospital in Dili, Dr Araujo said. 

Since Timor-Leste’s outbreak began in April, the country has recorded 24 cases of the virus and no deaths.