7 February 2022
Samson Sade writing in the Solomon Times Online today reports the Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare says he has been informed that one in two residents in Honiara are infected with the COVID-19 virus.
That means close to 50,000 people living in Honiara are now infected with the virus.
The Prime Minister made the startling revelation during his nationwide address on the national broadcaster yesterday
Comment
I am very sorry indeed to learn of such claims and especially as the government and the MHMS and the Prime Minister had warned consistently over many weeks of the need for all citizens to be vaccinated with one of the WHO approved vaccinations the government has been rolling out across the country.
I very much hope all those still to get vaccinated will do so soon and the widespread pandemic brought under control as soon as possible and, importantly, the people will follow advice on self-isolation and safe practices to see them recovery in quick time.
Frank Short.
Prime Minister Sogavare says the situation in Honiara is now stretched to the limit and community transmission is very high, urging residents in Honiara to minimize movements into town.
“That is why we need to reduce our movements in and around Honiara because if we have the virus we will transmit it, and if we do not have it, we will likely get infected and bring it home to our families and loved ones,” Prime Minister Sogavare said.
He says despite the many challenges, the government, through relevant agencies, will step up its efforts to test people for COVID-19 and also administer the lifesaving vaccine.
“We will increase the number of testing and vaccination sites within the Honiara emergency zone. This will include Honiara city clinics and identified testing and vaccination centers set up within strategic locations in the Honiara emergency zone.”
Source – Solomon Times Online.
He says the oversight committee will finalize and publicize the new sites within the coming days.
In separate news relating to Covid and the Omicron virus outreak in New Zealand leading epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker believes a number could be added on top of the daily Covid case numbers to reflect the level of infection still to be detected as symptoms vary for each person.
"You have got a lot of infected people (in NZ) who haven't developed illness yet and people who have very mild symptoms."
Professor Baker said New Zealand's current average is lower than what was previously seen overseas, as the spread was currently slowing down due to the current traffic light setting.
"That approach is still helping to limit transmission, that's why it's so important for people to come forward.
"But we know in roughly two weeks' time we will be getting to the stage of moving to the next stage of the response."
Baker said he focuses on the moving average to "smooth out the sawtooth" of daily case numbers.
"It just reminds us yet again not to put too much weight on a single day but instead look at the trend."
Looking at the current moving average, Baker believed cases could reach 300 in the next four or five days. According to his calculations, New Zealand has a moving average of about 167 cases a day.
"In four or five days we would be going up to 300 plus and in two weeks we might be up to 1000 a day.
"None of us likes to predict this future but once you are on the curve it's hard to imagine it changing very much for some time," he said.
As cases were predicted to rise, Baker said those most vulnerable to Covid-19 should start thinking about limiting social interactions.
Even with vaccinations and booster shots, Baker said the elderly with underlying health issues can still leave them vulnerable. But he said the second most vulnerable group is the unvaccinated.
"The other groups is of course the unvaccinated, who will be very vulnerable. And the difference now which didn't apply before is that it will be very wild exposure to this virus across the country."
Baker said over half of the country may get infected, meaning New Zealanders will know someone in their life or have been in contact with people who have had the virus.
Yesterday a dozen people required hospital care across Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua and Christchurch. One person was in an intensive care unit in Rotorua.
While case numbers are soaring, so too are the number of people receiving their booster shots.
There were 48,947 booster doses administered on Saturday, and nearly 5000 paediatric doses were given out.
"With Omicron in New Zealand, one of the best things you can do is get your booster as soon as it is due," the Ministry of Health said yesterday.
Across the country there were 16,873 tests carried out in the last 24 hours - almost 8000 in Auckland.
Source- Radio New Zealand.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
