Flight ban imposed by the Solomon Islands government
According to a piece in today’s Island Sun newspaper, the Solomon Islands government has officially banned international flights in and out of the country as its latest measure to keep covid-19 out.
The announcement was made last night, Sunday), by the Government Communication Unit, which said that the ban became effective on Friday last week.
The ban has seen the grounding of Solomon Airways flying in and out of the country and, as the coronavirus pandemic reportedly worsens in some countries, more and more airlines are being grounded due to travel bans and border controls and international travel is fast grinding to a halt.
In the wake of the unprecedented events, even leading airlines are being forced to ground the majority of their fleets, including Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
Some airlines have had to take things a step further and completely suspend operations for the foreseeable future.
The banning of all flights into and out of the Solomon Islands will necessitate the testing of those that might be suspected of having coronvirus to be done at home, presumably at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) and also presumably using test kits that had been expected from China,
Previous testing of blood samples for coronavirus had been conducted in Melbourne.
Those that will be tested and found positive must be immediately isolated and kept in strict quarantine conditions of ‘self isolation’ for at least 14 days in one one of the Government’s newly established Quarantine Stations.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
