22 December 2021 10:08 AM
Since COVID-19 was first detected almost two years ago, there are now more than 275 million cases of the virus globally, and 5.36 million deaths registered.
This was revealed by the secretary to Prime Minister, Dr Jimmie Rodgers, during Sunday 19th Talkback show over the national broadcaster, SIBC.
Dr Rodgers released the information in a bid to send a message to all Solomon Islanders of how infectious and deadly the virus is, and the importance of vaccination to protect oneself from being seriously ill or dying.
“We are blessed not to have registered a single case of death although we have twenty (20) reported cases.
“However, how long the country is going to keep COVID-19 away is the important question that we need to ask ourselves and to devise ways to keep us free from the virus,” Dr Rogers said.
He further mentioned that Fiji’s battle against the virus provides valuable lesson that the country can draw some inspiration from.
“Fiji has managed to keep COVID-19 out for little more than a year to date after it made landfall and spread throughout the community – a success story to emulate here,” Dr Rogers added.
He went on to say that since law and order has been restored after the civil unrest of 24th – 26th November, the country is looking at ways to continue with business.
The SPM highlighted that concerns have been raised regarding the entry of around 400 foreign forces into the country in light of COVID-19.
The secretary to Prime Minister however assured the country that the foreign forces have adhered to the country’s strict Covid-19 entry requirements.
“They have been fully vaccinated in their countries’ of origin and have tested negative before boarding,” he assured.
“We need not put them on institutional quarantine because they need to be out there.
“However, the testing regime that we introduced in agreement with the planning team and the commanders of the forces is to have them tested every two days,” the secretary said.
He assured the country that the foreign forces have willingly complied with our requirements and that the measures taken so far have been effective.
Source – Solomon Times Online.
In separate news from Radio New Zealand today, NSW it its highest number of daily Covid-19 infections recorded in any Australian jurisdiction.
Hospitalisations for Covid have risen to 302, up from 284 in the previous reporting period.
There are 40 patients in ICU, the highest level it's been at since 11 November.
Yesterday, NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard revealed close to 1,400 healthcare workers were furloughed due to Covid-19.
He reiterated his calls for people to get a vaccine booster shot, calling it a Christmas gift "to yourself and a gift to the community".
Hazzard is expected to argue for eligibility for booster shots to be brought forward from five months to four at today's national cabinet meeting.
Despite a rise in infections numbers, health authorities are sticking to existing public health measures but are encouraging people to socially distance and to wear masks indoors.
The government has also pushed back on calls to limit large gatherings.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet yesterday acknowledged that the increase in cases would lead to more hospital admissions but said he had confidence in the state's health system.
"It will be tough, but I believe we are strong enough as we have gone through every other challenge for close to two years," Perrottet said.
"We will get through this challenge."
Amid rising case numbers, the state has been struggling with long queues at testing centres and delays for people awaiting results.
Escalating case numbers and hours-long queues for PCR tests, particularly in Sydney, has led to stores across the state selling out of rapid antigen test (RAT) packs.
RATs are home test-kits which can provide a person with a result in 15 minutes - their use has been encouraged by NSW Health.
However, high demand has caused the kits to vanish from pharmacies and supermarkets across the state.
Perrottet said he would raise the supply of RATs at the national cabinet meeting.
"There's clearly a whole range of issues right now, not unique to NSW, that are challenging, and we will work through them," he said.
Testing overwhelms several sites in Melbourne
Victoria has recorded 1,503 new local Covid-19 cases and six deaths, as record demand for testing continues to overwhelm several sites in Melbourne.
There are 394 people in hospital, with 70 people in ICU.
There are now 60 cases of Omicron in the state.
"All of those individual cases have come either out of international arrivals or their close contacts or out of the recent Newcastle cluster and their immediate contacts," Victoria's Covid-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said.
"They are isolating and my thanks to them for doing the right thing, but we expect to be more cases than the 60 or so-so far.
"We are concerned about the number of cases continuing to rise in New South Wales and Victoria, and given the high level of movement between our two states, we would expect high numbers to spread here, which comes down to all of us to please keep on top of the Covid-safe measures if you are indoors, wear a mask."
Queensland records largest daily case number
Queensland has recorded 186 new cases of Covid-19, the largest number of daily cases since the start of the pandemic.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said of the patients in hospital with Covid-19, none required treatment for the disease.
She said more than 257,000 people had crossed the border into Queensland from New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria.
More than 85 percent of Queenslanders aged 16 and over are now fully vaccinated.
- ABC and RADIO NEW ZEALAND.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
