17 February 2022
According to today’s edition of the Island Sun newspaper, an additional 131 positive cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours.
In his Daily Covid-19 update last night, Health Minister Dr Culwick Togamana said 61 of those cases were in Honiara and 72 cases in the provinces.
“Hence the total reported cases in Solomon Islands stands at 5043, 3909 of these cases in Honiara which accounts for 77.5 percent of total cases, followed by Malaita with 11.4 percent of the total cases."
He said Covid-19 admission at the NRH stands at 89, being 43 percent of the total bed occupancy at the hospital.
“Five discharges have been made at this reporting period and also 3 deaths have been recorded, of the 3 deaths, 2 deaths occured in the last 24 hours and 1 death occurred in the previous day whose results were received and recorded.
“This makes a total of 68 deaths due to Covid-19 in the country,” Minister Togamana says.
He added, a total of 28,000 tests have been conducted since the beginning of the country’s response to the global pandemic.
The Health Minister reiterated that Covid-19 vaccination remains the most efficient way by which one can protect people from being very sick and die from Covid-19.
He said Covid-19 vaccination for Honiara are at the Solomon Ports car park area and Lawson Tama.
Dr Togamana also advised that over 100 additional nurses have been recruited to support Covid-19 response.
“Today I have been informed that many of our workers at the Corporate Service level including administration have returned to work.
“Many have previously tested positive for Covid-19 and have since recovered and now returned to their duties,” he said.
Source: SIBC
In separate news two international epidemiologists have arrived in the country supported by the WHO and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs to provide technical support in the field of epidemiology for the current COVID-19 response.
The arrival of the epidemiologists will boost parate news the Government’s response to COVID-19 in the country.
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined populations.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for preventive healthcare.
Epidemiologist’s help with study design, collection, and statistical analysis of data, amend interpretation and dissemination of results (including peer review and occasional systematic review).
Epidemiology has helped develop methodology used in clinical research, public health studies, and, to a lesser extent, basic research in the biological sciences.
The Government through the Ministry of Health and Medical Services continues to receive technical advice and recommendations from UN agencies such as UNICEF and WHO.
This week the Ministry also recruited an additional 130 probationers and 23 registered nurses to the National Referral Hospital.
Additional nurses also signed their contracts Monday this week for deployment to Guadalcanal Province while several more nurses signed their contracts on Tuesday to support the Honiara City Council health response to COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Ministry is working on its strategy to reengage the country’s returning nurses from Vanuatu for Provincial deployment.
Source: GCU
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
