SOLOMON Islands is COVID-19 free for almost 4 months now.
Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare highlighted in his nationwide address, Monday this week.
The Prime Minister said it is an incredible achievement especially at a time when the Delta Variant of COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the globe and the region.
He said this is the primary reason why we have tightened our borders and put in place more stringent measures to increase our COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
“We have suspended incoming passenger service flights to the country to give our frontline ministries time to review our existing SOPs that were developed prior to the Delta variant to ensure they are fit for purpose in addressing the highly transmissible Delta variant should it breach our borders,” he said.
The Prime Minister said assessments have been conducted at our quarantine facilities to ensure they are able to contain the Delta variant to avoid community transmission, should we have people infected with the variant in the facilities.
Prime Minister Sogavare said they are also reviewing the SOPE Regulations to ensure our testing regime and COVID-19 vaccination drive are enhanced.
“Fellow Solomon Islanders the Delta variant is very different from the original strains of COVID-19. It is more transmissible. It is more deadly. It affects people of any age group from children to adults,” he said.
Prime Minister Sogavare said the Centre for Disease Control in Atlanta, USA has compared the Delta variant’s ability to spread through the air to that of chicken pox – a highly transmissible disease that we are familiar with.
He said the temporary closure of our borders has allowed the Oversight Committee and our frontline ministries to reassess and reset our strategies to deal with the delta variant.
“We are now reviewing when we will reopen the borders and at what rate we allow people to enter from countries with different risk profiles from the Delta variant,” he said.
PRESS RELEASE
