AROUND 200 defence and police personnel deployed to Honiara to assist with the restoration of law and order in Honiara following the recent unrest, have completed their 10 and 14 days period of health monitoring with all COVID-19 tests results, negative.
They include the majority from the Australian contingent and all those from Fiji and Papua New Guinea, all of whom arrived last month.
This means they can now operate with the local police force including the public and will no longer need to operate in their bubbles, as health can now assure that they no longer pose any risk of COVID-19 to the community. Each one of those who have been cleared underwent 5 to 7 COVID-19 tests and was tested negative all the time before being cleared free from COVID-19.
Nevertheless, they are still being advised to implement public health measures such as wearing masks in appropriate settings, hand hygiene, social distancing, and operating in a separate bubble from those still to be cleared.
With close health monitoring and COVID-19 tests, the remaining group should be free to operate outside of their bubble later this week and over the weekend.
They include the contingent from New Zealand, some of Australia’s Defence Personnel, and officials from the Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) who arrived early this month and they are operating in their bubbles and not mixing up with those who have been cleared.
The urgent deployment of personnel to curb disorder in Honiara generated a significant level of public concerns, and therefore health would like to assure that to date there has not been any COVID-19 positive case detected amongst the defence and police personnel including their officials.
Despite this blessing, health is reminding the public to not take it for granted. COVID-19 threat of entry and community transmission remains a health concern. As such, it is urging all who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, 18 years and above, especially women and girls across the country to get vaccinated.
To date, 71,400 people are fully vaccinated with 46 percent with the first dose. Based on vaccines administered so far, 54 percent of vaccine-eligible persons vaccinated against COVID-19 are males and 46 percent females.
2nd dose rollout for all provinces has commenced with most of the provinces now approaching 60 percent coverage of the first dose.
Let us not wait for the virus to enter and spread in the community before we run to get vaccinated. This has been the case with many countries around the world and as we have seen in global news of people asking for the vaccines when health workers can only tell them that it is already too late.
PRESS RELEASE
