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MARA approves $1.9m to counter covid-19 on Mala.

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Premier of Malaita province Daniel Suidani

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

THE Malaita Provincial Government has approved $1.9 million towards countering the current state of covid-19 in the province.

The budget was endorsed during an emergency meeting on Monday this week upon submissions made by the Provincial Disaster Operation Centre (PDOC).

In a statement, the Premier, Daniel Suidani said budget support for the operations of PDOC is critical as Malaita province is facing possible widespread COVID-19 community infections.

“The main issues needing support is preparing Aligegeo School into a processing facility to accommodate any big number of patient that might be infected and sick.

“The budget would give the operation centre adequate finance to deal with issues concerning logistics, accommodation and others.

“MARA government also passed during the meeting that Sundays and Wednesdays are the days communities around Malaita are encouraged to fast and pray for each other during this challenging time,” it said.

Premier Daniel Suidani issued a call to all Malaitans in the province and elsewhere to listen to the provincial and national authorities for advice.

According to the premier, this includes advice on vaccination to protect themselves and the country.

“Now that the dreaded covid-19 pandemic has arrived in our dear country, we must make sure it is controlled by adhering to proper advice which also includes vaccination.

“AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines are shown to be the most effective vaccines and our people need to take them to keep safe if that is what the competent authorities have advised us on,” he said in the statement.

Suidani warned people in the province against congregating in large numbers and crowds.

“The virus spreads from person to person, so I appeal to our Malaita people to remain in their villages and households.

“This is not the time for gatherings or celebrations, sometimes people can be infected but not shown with any signs.

“This is why it is important to stay still in your village and households,” he warned.

Western lockdown tomorrow

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Western PDOC and WPG Executive during the meeting

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

HIGH risk zones in the Western Province will be on lockdown as of tomorrow (Wednesday) starting from 6pm to Sunday 6am.

The high risk areas identified are as follows; Marovo region, especially Seghe and Rukutu village, Munda, Noro and Gizo.

Chairperson of the Western Provincial Disaster Operation Committee, Jeffrey Wickham said his committee will draft a report which outlines the boundaries of lockdown zones and send it to the National Disaster Office as well as the oversight committee for endorsement.

He explained that the lockdown will give Health and Medical officials the opportunity to effectively carry out contact tracing and swabbing.

Wickham said the zones identified have been exposed to COVID-19 following actions of a ship that breached the State of Emergency Protocols when traveling to Western Province.

“These zones have been exposed to crews of the MV Nusatupe who reportedly had contact with people during its recent trip to our province.

“The lockdown is important as it will help our health team to do their jobs smoothly,” he said.

Acting Director of Western Province Health and Medical Authority, Dr Michael Belande Buin said a team of five Frontline officers will be dispatched to Seghe today.

He said the team will carry out swabbing on people who have been in contact with the crews of MV Nusatupe.

“Reports we received has it that four passengers were onboard MV Nusapute from Honiara to Rukutu. The report further states that people came into contact with the crews during offloading at Rukutu.

“Our team will make a stopover at Seghe to compile information before heading to Rukutu and nearby communities for swabbing.

“The team is expected to return tomorrow 6pm however the expecting time depends on how fast the ground work such as swabbing and recording initial tests to patients is complete,” Buin said.

He said the result of the samples will be verified at the Gizo lab and results will be made known before the weekend.

Mesepitu asks ships to respect COVID-19 procedures.

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Western Premier Christian Mesepitu

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

PREMIER of Western Province has called on ship owners, captains and crews to follow COVID-19 standard procedures given out by the province and the national government.

Christian Mesepitu said any ship who willingly breached the province and government’s COVID-19 protocols will be dealt with.

“WPG executive has agreed that we will take action on ships that breached COVID-19 protocols.

“We will take action which fall under our jurisdictions such as cancelling their license to operate in our province,” he said.

Mesepitu said Western Province will not allow any ships to enter unless for the purpose of delivering essential equipment or goods with prior approval from responsible authorities.

He said his government will liaise with the national government through responsible authorities to make sure essential goods and services reach the Province.

MV Nusatupe leaves behind scary trail

Written by
Ben Bilua
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The LC Nusa Tupe

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

THE Health and Medical Authority of Western Province is working around the clock to identify places and people whom the crews of the MV Nusatupe may have come into contact with in the last week.

Seven crews of the ship were tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week and the Western province is mounting its contact tracing operation.

According to Dr. Michael Belande Buin – who is the Acting Director of Western Province’s Health and Medical Authority, MV Nusatupe left Honiara earlier this month and went straight to Rukutu to offload cargoes for a special religious gathering.

He said adults and children went onboard the ship when it docked at Rukutu.

Buin said the ship then sailed to Munda and the crews ended up in one of the local pubs with friends.

“The ship left Munda and sailed to Taro then returned heading towards Gizo.

“It came and anchored outside Nusatupe. We were informed that the crews left the ship after we swabbed them. They came to Gizo, picked up a few friends, and headed to a resort on the nearby Islands.

“We were also informed that the captain’s wife and kids were picked up and dropped off at Bunikalo,” Buin said.

He said his team is tracking down those who have come into close contact with the ship’s crew.

Buin adds that few people who had close contact with the crews are now undergoing self-isolation.

Auki COVID-19 patients in stable condition

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Kilu'ufi hospital

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

FIVE people who have recently tested positive for COVID-19 in Auki are in stable condition.

Chairman of the Emergency Operation Centre for covid-19 at Kilu’ufi hospital and Director of Malaita Provincial Health Authority, Dr. Rex Maukera confirmed this to Island Sun Auki today.

He said five positive cases in Auki are in stable condition with no severe illness being shown.

Maukera said the cases are currently under home quarantine and the provincial health continues to closely monitor their situation.  

He said since their status was announced, the provincial health team also began contact tracing of people suspected of interacting with them.

On that note, Maukera said at the moment they are waiting for the result of six tests sent over to Honiara over the weekend for confirmation.

He said as long as they receive the results it will support their planning to go about contact tracing.

Maukera advised residents of Auki and the traveling public of Malaita to limit their entry and exit from Auki town to help current contact tracing in Auki.

He stressed that this will also help stop further community transmission in the province.

Advice to scale down movement in Auki

Written by
Samie Waikori
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Auki town.

BY SAMIE WAIKORI

AUKI

A CALL was issued on Monday for the traveling public on Malaita to scale down their movement in and out of the provincial capital, Auki.

Malaita Provincial Disaster Operation Centre (PDOC) through the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC) for COVID-19 at Kilu’ufi hospital made the call as it is conducting contact tracing on the five positive cases reported for the township.

Chairman of EOC, Director of Malaita Provincial Health Authority, Dr. Rex Maukera relayed the call in an interview with Island Sun yesterday.

“I call on vehicle owners who are serving public transport to Auki via the north, south, east, and interior roads of Central Kwara’ae to temporarily defer their service until further advice.

“This is to limit movement of people to and out of Auki to carry out contact tracing and to avoid the spread of the virus to communities in the province since the virus is already in Auki,” he said.

Maukera also called on the public in Auki to limit movement within the township.

He said they need public support to try and curb the current infections in Auki and avoid further community transmission.

On that note, Maukera said there will be no lockdown for Auki as rumored; however, activities were only advised to scale down operations.

He said essential activities will continue to operate, however, it is advisable that strict covid-19 measures must be adhered to.

Maukera said they continue to monitor the current situation and should there be queries or threats on the situation, it should be reported to the EOC through telephone: 40128.

Doctors investigate death of woman at Seghe

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Dr Michael Belande speaking during a meeting recently.

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

DOCTORS at Seghe Hospital are investigating whether COVID-19 is responsible for the death of a woman this week.

Acting Director of Health and Medical for Western Province, Doctor Michael Belande Buin said his team at the site have carried out initial examinations to see if COVID-19 was responsible for the woman’s death.

“We were informed that the deceased has other health issues but that cannot rule out COVID-19 so our investigation team is on the ground,” he said.

Buin said the deceased is a passenger of MV Marina who ran a trip to the Western Province earlier this month.

He said the deceased became sick and was transported to Seghe hospital but was not able to recover.

“At the moment we are just guessing so we have send our team to verify this informations,” Buin explained.

2 COVID-19 related deaths

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Honiara is the beating heart of the country's economy.

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

THE country has recorded two deaths from COVID-19 at the Emergency Department of the National Referral Hospital.

Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr Culwick Togamana confirmed this in his daily COVID-19 update today.

“Last night two persons were brought to the Emergency Department. One was a 52-year-old female and another a 59-year-old male who had comorbidities including diabetes and high blood pressure”.

“They were tested for COVID-19 and were found positive,” he said.

“Accordingly, the Solomon Islands recorded its first two deaths from COVID. My heartfelt sympathy to the immediate families of these two, their relatives and friends,” Togamana said.

He confirmed that the outcome of the investigations will be communicated accordingly and at the fitting time.

Togamana called on all family members of the two, those who have been to the hospital to immediately self-isolate at home because they are now suspected cases of COVID-19.

200 swabbing kits left in Western Province

Written by
Ben Bilua
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Gizo Hospital

BY BEN BILUA
Gizo

WESTERN Province’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services says the province’s front-line workers have only 200 swabbing kits left.

John Wale said only 200 people will be tested for COVID-19 this week unless the government provides additional swabbing kits.

“This is serious, our people need to be tested as part of our province have been exposed to this virus. For example, those who attended the mass gathering at Rukutu, Marovo area.

“These people are exposed to the virus because crews of the ships that transported the goods so as people to the gathering have tested positive upon arrival in Honiara,” he said.

Wale also said that manpower is also slowly falling as the current situation has overwhelmed the limited manpower allocated to respond to the COVID-19 situation.

He said Front-liners will be stretched to their limits.

Wale calls on the national government to address both issues immediately in order to contain the virus from spreading in Western Province.

4 Days lockdown, as infection rises

Written by
Press Release
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Honiara is the beating heart of the country's economy.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has declared a further four days lockdown for the Honiara City Emergency zone as covid infections soar in the capital.

The lockdown becomes effective from 6:00pm Tuesday 25 to 6:00pm Saturday 29 January 2022 for a period of 4 days to reduce people movement and to allow health operations to continue in Honiara communities.

Sogavare said the lockdown is critical in the fight to reduce and contain community transmission within the city.

The government through the Oversight Committee will try to provide some food support to communities during the lock down period to ensure people remain in their homes.

The lockdown period will be reviewed before the expiry of the 4 days to decide if it should be extended further. This will allow the Cabinet time to consider the implications of the current outbreak and further consider longer-term measures that will be recommended by the Oversight Committee.

“I ask all residents living in the Honiara Emergency Zone to please respect the lockdown period and stay home during this time so that we can reduce the transmission of the virus and contain and control the current epidemic of COVID-19 in the country,” Sogavare said in his Special National Address today.

Honiara City is now the epicenter of covid-19, although the original outbreak of COVID-19 was traced back from Ontong Java in the Malaita Outer Islands.

Sogavare warned that the Honiara outbreak means COVID-19 is now exported to provinces from Honiara through ships that sail from Honiara to provinces.

The lockdown now prohibits people, vessels including Outboard motors and aircrafts from traveling to and from Honiara to the provinces.

Special exemptions will be given to high priority cargo flights and personnel entering from overseas to assist the Government’s response to the situation.

The 4-day lockdown will include the two localized lockdowns at the Lord Howe Settlement and Burns Creek Community.

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