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16 more NRH staff tests positive

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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The National Referral Hospital (NRH) in Honiara

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

A further 16 health staff of the National Referral Hospital are confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19.

This was according to Dr. Culwick Togamana Minister for Ministry of Health.

The 16 joined 55 other staff who all tested positive since the start of the community outbreak a week ago.

Dr. Togamana said the hospital is now stretched out in terms of human resource capacity, as more staff are sick from the virus.

Togamana adds that the NRH remains in Emergency mode, meaning the hospital will only receive emergency cases. He further stressed by confirming the number of patients admitted in the NRH.

“There are 19 patients admitted in the NRH and 33 in the Central Field Hospital making a total of 52 patients,” Togamana confirmed.

70 % of COVID patients asymptomatic: Togamana

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

70 percent of COVID-19 patients are asymptomatic, with 30 percent showing symptoms of the virus.

These figures were released yesterday by the Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr. Culwick Togamana in his daily update on COVID-19 cases.

“The majority of the positive patients so far are asymptomatic (70 percent), meaning not showing any signs of coughing, shortness of breath, runny nose, etc.

“30 percent of these are with symptoms mainly consisting of fever, sore throat, runny nose and in some cases shortness of breath which was registered for three cases,” Togamana said.

He said the country will expect more people to contract the virus, more people to fall sick and severely ill from the virus.

“We can only pray that God will continue to guide and protect all our undertakings at this time to address the community transmissions and prevent as much as possible loss of lives of our people,” Togamana said.

Many Covid patients self-isolating

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

MANY COVID-19 patients are now self-quarantined at their respective homes to prevent the further spread of the virus.

Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr Culwick Togamana confirmed this in his address yesterday.

“Many of the patients are in their homes and isolating themselves to prevent any further spread to their families and community,” Togamana said.

He advised the general public who think they have come into close contact with any positive cases or actually come close to them to self-isolate at home.

“Please self-isolate at home as we do not want to overwhelm our current health capacity,” Togamana added.

He said those who develop severe symptoms of COVID-19 such as severe runny nose, shortness of breath, coughing etc must immediately contact St John Ambulance on phone 115 for escort to the National Referral Hospital.

Possible community transmission in Kirakira

Written by
Mavis Podokolo
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Kirakira station, in Makira/Ulawa Province

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO

KIRAKIRA the capital of Makira/ Ulawa province is said to have a case of possible community transmission of COVID-19.

This is confirmed by Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr. Culwick Togamana in his address yesterday.

 “We are working closely with our provincial health counterparts for COVID-19 testing and we will continue to encourage people in these areas and the rest of the country to continue practicing COVID-19 public health safety measures,”Togamana said.

He also said COVID-19 community transmission is also widespread in the capital Honiara and Malaita Outer Islands.

 “As of today pockets of incidences that quite could possibly be community transmission were picked up in several locations in our provinces such as Auki in Malaita, Marovo Lagoon in the Western Province and Kirakira in Makira Province,” he added.

Longer lockdowns expected as COVID surges in Honiara.

Written by
Press Release
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The roundabout at the Honiara City Council

Honiara city and other Provincial Hotspots are expected to head into longer lockdowns in the coming days as covid-19 cases continue to surge.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said on Monday that longer lockdowns can provide much higher chances of eliminating covid transmissions in communities.

Lockdowns usually follow the incubation cycle of the COVID-19 virus which is 14 days, which means a once-cycle lockdown is 14 days.

The reason for the 14-days is that if people’s movement over one COVID-19 cycle of 14 days is reduced, much of the COVID-19 that is already carried by infected people would be eliminated and would reduce transmission.

Similarly, if a lockdown for two COVID-19 cycles which is 28 days is enforced, there is a much better chance of eliminating transmission as most of the active cases of COVID-19 in locked-down areas would have been eliminated.

As lockdowns will affect business operations and services, Government Authorities is meeting with the Solomon Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the business houses this week to assist the government in implementing lockdowns in efforts to reduce transmission and to contain the outbreak.

“My office will seek a meeting with the SICCI executive to discuss and formalize our partnership to support lockdown operations,” Sogavare said on Monday.

The Prime Minister has asked State-Owned Enterprises to assist and support the implementation of any lockdown by providing logistics and food rations not just for Honiara but to stockpile supplies that can go to provinces if they implement hotspot lockdowns.

A similar request has been sought from development partners to support lockdown operations with logistics and food packages that can be dropped off to households prior to any longer lockdown.

The Government believes that the only way to stop the spread of the virus is to reduce movements by enforcing lockdowns.

Honiara city is heading into a 4 days lockdown starting at 6:00 pm Yesterday to 6:00 pm Saturday 29. A review is will be made before the expiry of the 4 days.

Gov’t failed to prepare for COVID outbreak: Wale

Written by
Press Release
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Leader of Opposition, Matthew Wale

LEADER of Opposition Matthew Wale says the National Government should humbly admit that it has failed miserably in the last two years to prepare for any COVID outbreak in the country.

In a statement today the Opposition Leader says there is nothing wrong with the Government admitting its failure, in fact, it is the right thing to do.

Mr Wale pointed out that in Sunday’s talkback show Secretary to Prime Minister Dr Jimmie Rodgers even indirectly admitted that there was no COVID response plan in place for the outbreak.

“The SPM told the radio talkback show that the government was just finalizing its national response plan on Sunday which will be handed to Cabinet today (Tuesday 25th, 2021) for discussions,” he said.

The Leader of Opposition said that itself is an indication that there was never a COVID response plan developed in the past two years to address the outbreak.

“We had a two-year grace period but it seems the Government has failed to prepare for this current situation,” he said.

Mr Wale said there are a lot of issues that have now surfaced to prove the fact that the Government did not prepare for this outbreak.

It includes;

  • The Government built a field hospital facility to cater for only 56 beds in the last two years. Surely, they knew very well that 56 beds would not cater for any COVID outbreak in the country.
  • The Gene-Xpert Machine in Auki is still not ready to undergo testing now that we have cases in Malaita province.
  • The Government had two years to establish food supply and distribution mechanisms. To date, it is still unknown how they will provide food supplies for communities in Honiara and other affected areas. The lack of proper planning means only short duration lockdowns possible, as shorter lockdowns are ineffective in arresting the runway infection rate. A 14day lockdown is appropriate to effectively deal with the exponential rise in infections. But, it is impossible to do so because the government failed to prepare for this.
  • The lack of priority and focus on the Tasman/OJ border. There was lack of resources and priority at the Tasman/OJ border. No quarantine sites and authorities on the ground to undergo proper monitoring and surveillance compared to Honiara and the Shortland border.
  • No COVID-response plan to counter outbreak at NRH. The statements made by the Prime Minister and the Health Minister in Parliament that NRH is fully equipped and prepared is contrary to the situation now.
  • The Government’s priority focus on building stadiums in the last two years and has ignored COVID health facilities in preparation for this outbreak is insane. This is a health crises that warrants are more comprehensive approach meaning we should prioritize all funding resources to our health care system and to manage and keep our citizens safe.
  • Gov’t has failed to train enough frontline personnel’s.
  • Allowance for frontliners very slow which further demoralises frontline staff performance.
  • Addressing mental and physical health of frontliners, addressing workload and fatigue taking into serious consideration of our lab technicians as well.

Mr Wale said it is also unfortunate to hear in the Prime Minister’s address on Monday this week that the Government is pleading with SOE’s and the private sector to help provide food rations and vehicles.

The Leader of Opposition said that itself speaks volumes of the lack of preparedness and response.

 “The Prime Minister should advise MID to recall all government vehicles and hire vehicles from non-essential staff to assist them. PMO should take the lead by recalling hired vehicles from the Political Appointees half of which have nothing to do but roam around misusing government hired vehicles,” he said.

Mr Wale said the Government had a two-year window to fully prepare but it is now clear that they have failed miserably.

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.

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