Today Friday 24 April 2026, marks the end to the planned Tutaka Program as set out in Phase 3 of Operation Namu26. This therefore completes the execution of all three phases of Operation Namu26. This update covers the last two weeks since no update was issued last Friday 17 April 2026.
Over the last 17 days from Monday 6 April to Wednesday 22 April 2026, as depicted in the graph below, only single cases were recorded on the 9 April, 13 April, 14 April and on 20 April 2026 for Rarotonga only. No recorded cases for Aitutaki and Atiu for the last month and none recorded for Mauke and Mangaia for several months now.
With the results presented, effective from today, the IMS (Incident Management System) Team and Operation Namu26 will now be stood down. However, monitoring and surveillance by the Public Health Team will continue and a formal notification will be issued in due time if and when the Cook Islands can be declared as Dengue Free.
The Minister of Health Hon. Vainetutai Rose Toki Brown and TMO would like to acknowledge and thank the Cook Islands Government for the financial support accorded towards Operation Namu26, including the Office of the Public Service Commissioner, Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, Tourism Cook Islands, Ministry of Agriculture, Infrastructure Cook Islands, Emergency Management Cook Islands, Ministry of Culture and Development, Ministry of Justice, Rarotonga Puna Leads, Ministerial Support Offices, the Island Governments of Aitutaki, Atiu, Mauke and Mangaia, and the Cook Islands Red Cross Society who were directly involved and supported with the execution of Operation Namu26. The support from across agencies of government for the island wide clean-up is also acknowledged and appreciated.
The generous support received from the Tourism Sector, private sector businesses and the wider community is also very much appreciated that together we were able to bring the dengue outbreak under control.
Given the current trend, the Cook Islands Red Cross Society as of this week is planning to distribute the remaining dengue prevention packs to identified vulnerable families across Rarotonga and the Pa Enua.
Finally, dengue is not endemic here in the Cook Islands and let us all strive to once again retain a dengue free status.
ENDS.