Zero covid-19 case

BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO 

THE country has all its covid-19 cases becoming negative, meaning there is zero case of the virus in country.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare confirmed this in his national address yesterday.

“I am happy to announce that our nationally reported cases of covid-19 positive cases remain at 18.

“All 18 cases are now negative. 14 have been discharged to the community. Four are still at the Central Field hospital. They will be released after they have  three consecutive negative tests seven days apart following their last positive test.

“This is a tremendous achievement. It is an excellent testament to the effectiveness of our pre-departure protocol on covid-19.

“It also gives due credit to all travelers to Solomon Islands who complied with our requirements. Thank you,” said Sogavare.

He said six reactivation cases of covid-19 from the last flight from Manila that came in on January 21, 2021 have also been picked up.

“All six cases tested positive in our GeneXpert machine but tested negative with the qPCR machine. This indicates extremely low levels of virus fragments in the body that are unlikely to infect other people.

“All six cases also had antibodies in their system indicating they had all been exposed to covid-19 before they arrived in Solomon Islands and therefore have developed some protection against further COVID-19 infection.

“All six cases have already tested negative on re-swabbing immediate after their positive tests,” said Sogavare.

He said they will be released after having three three consecutive negative tests taken seven days apart.

“Fellow citizens, we do not put the re-activation cases into the central field hospital which is reserved for the new positive covid-19 cases.

“These cases are isolated in our other quarantine stations on advice from our health experts. They do not pose infection risks to others due to the extremely low viral load that were only picked up by the extremely sensitive GeneXpert machine while negative on the qPCR machine which is currently the Gold Standard for covid-19 tests.

“Let me assure the public, these same health experts that have been responsible for keeping our country safe want to ensure all reactivation cases are managed at different locations and they will be released following the same protocol of 3 consecutive negative test after their last GeneXpert positive tests.

“Let me also assure the public we do not have any community transmission of covid-19 in Solomon Islands,” said Sogavare.

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