BY JENNIFER KUSAPA
THE National Referral Hospital will not have the capacity to care for covid-19 patients in any case of a covid-19 break-out.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed this during his nation-wide address yesterday.
“If Community transmission occurs in Solomon Islands, we will see a lot more suffering and deaths.
“The NRH does not have the capacity to look after large numbers of people infected by COVID-19. In fact, I have been advised that we must not bring covid-19 patients to the NRH simply because it will spread very quickly among patients in the hospital due to their already compromised immune status,” Sogavare said.
“This simply means that most COVID-19 infected people will remain in their own homes.
“This will spread the infection to everyone else in the household. Many of the unvaccinated people will get infected, many will get seriously ill and sadly, many could die.
“I have been asking you all to get vaccinated since we launched our COVID-19 vaccination program in March this year. Sadly, only 18% of the population listened and got fully vaccinated. Another 29% came for their first doses. These people must take their second doses as soon as their due dates come because one dose does not protect you from COVID-19.
“Today, I again, ask all members of the public to ensure you are fully vaccinated. That is the only proven way to protect yourselves, your families, and your communities from COVID-19,” Sogavare said
