Taking a look at incidences of Covid 19 in the Solomon Islands and the phased approach to tackling Omicron in New Zealand

26 January 2022

"Do not panic we are all in this together and we must face this current situation together. Protect yourself stay at home, do not go out, vaccination teams will come to you so please get vaccinated.” ( Dr. Culwick Togamana)

--------------

On Monday Honiara had recorded 174 cases today. Two persons with underlying health conditions have also died from COVID-19, a 51 year old woman and a 59 year old man.?They both sadly passed away while admitted to the National Referral Hospital (NRH).

This was revealed by the Minister of Health and Medical services Dr Culwick Togamana during his daily COVID-19 situation update on SIBC.

The Health Minister also said says that as of 12 noon on Moday, the combined COVID-19 positive cases stood at 650.

He said that of those that had tested positive 70% were asymptomatic, meaning they had no symptoms. 30%, however, had symptoms such as a runny nose, fever and in 3 cases shortness of breath.

The Health Minister said there were 33 patients admitted at the Central Field Hospital (CFH) on Tuesday and 19 at the National Referral Hospital (NRH).

Today, Wednesday, The Minister of Health and Medical services Dr Culwick Togamana has said his Ministry will start conducting mass testing of the general population in Honiara.

“The Ministry will start COVID 19 mass testing and will start going to community to test and advise people to self-isolate.

“We will start with high- risk zones. If you see more numbers of cases of cough and fever being reported from your communities, isolate yourself and inform 115 or 25256 and we will prioritize testing in your communities,” the Health Minister said.

“Do not panic we are all in this together and we must face this current situation together. Protect yourself stay at home, do not go out, vaccination teams will come to you so please get vaccinated.”

He has advised the public to stop spreading rumours, and to only pass on information or messages that are from the Ministry of Health and credible partners such as UNICEF and WHO.

The Health Minister says a total of 1,790 COVID-19 tests have been conducted since the outbreak last week, and expects the test numbers to rise as more samples come in from contact tracing.

The Minister of Health and Medical services, Dr. Culwick Togamana, has said the decision to go out to communities is to reduce people gathering at vaccination sites, which could further hamper efforts to curb the transmission of the virus in the city.

He has called on all those eligible for the jab to get vaccinated once the vaccination teams come to their communities.

“I therefore call on every person 18 years and above, pregnant women and children 12 to below 18 years of age to get vaccinated,” Dr Culwick said.

He admits that more needs to be done to get vaccination numbers up, but hopes that the new approach will help boost numbers.

The WHO and other leading health agencies have stated that to fight new strains such as Omicron countries need to have at least 70% of their eligible population vaccinated.

According to government sources less than 20% of the eligible population are vaccinated in the Solomon Islands so far.

In New Zealand the government there has laid out plans for its phased plan to tackle Omicron, and I quote from a news bulletin relayed by Radio New Zealand this morning, Wednesday.

Isolation periods for Covid-19 cases and close contacts will be reduced as the country goes through a new three-step approach to Omicron unveiled by the government this afternoon.

Associate Health Minister Ayesha Verrall has provided more detail on the government's new three-step approach to Omicron.

Watch the announcement here:

The first phase is the one we are in now, and includes an intensive approach to contact tracing. Under the second phase, the focus will shift to people who are more at risk, and critical workers.

"This is ultimately about ensuring the wellbeing of all New Zealanders. This has been the principle of our Covid-19 response right from the beginning."

Dr Verrall said the number of cases will determine what stage the country is at. The country could move to Stage Two when numbers are less than 1000 a day, and to Stage Three prior to getting to tens of thousands a day.

Dr Verrall says New Zealanders step up when there's a job to do, and our high vaccination rates, the hard work the public health team and the traffic light system meant New Zealand could do what many countries around the world could not.

"We reduced the spread of Delta, emptied our ICU of Covid cases, and we're now in a good position to manage the spread of Omicron."

She said Omicron is the most transmissible variant and will spread fast, putting our health system and infrastructure under considerable pressure. She said new reports suggest Omicron cases double every two to four days, which meant a 10-case outbreak could mean more than 1000 cases per day within six to 12 days.

"It's important to remember that Covid-19 is markedly different to what it was in the beginning of the pandemic."

The new three-phase public health response to Omicron will include reducing the isolation period for cases and close contacts at Phase Two and Three to 10 and seven days.

There will also be increased use of rapid antigen tests and automated contact identification.

Rapid antigen testing kit in use.

New Zealand is currently in the first phase, said Dr Verrall.

"Broadly speaking, that includes the same contact tracing, isolation, and request that everyone who is symptomatic be tested at a community testing station or at a primary health provider.

"Our objective is to keep cases as low as possible for as long as possible to allow people to be boosted and children to be vaccinated without Omicron being widespread."

Phase Two will be designed to slow the spread and protect the country's vulnerable communities.

"The system will be adjusted to focus much more on identifying those who are at greater risk of severe illness from Omicron - which will be a smaller percentage of cases.

The isolation period in this phase will be 10 days for cases and seven days for contacts.

"Household contacts will actively be managed by contact tracing services, with close contacts requiring a PCR test on day five."

Dr Verrall said there would be an increased use of digital technology in this phase.

"Cases will be notified via text message and be directed to an online self-investigation tool which will focus on high risk exposures. Information will be provided via email and phone based interviews will still take place where it's required."

She said rapid antigen tests (RATs) will be integrated into the country's testing system at this phase and will work alongside PCR tests.

"They will be useful when the laboratories cannot provide PCR results within a useful time frame because of large volumes or because of transport delays."

Non-symptomatic critical workers will be allowed to return to work even if they are close contacts with a case, under the second phase. They will undergo daily symptom checks and daily rapid antigen tests prior to commencing work. They will strictly be required to use medical masks at work, changing their mask as needed throughout the day.

When removing the mask, for example for eating and drinking, they must maintain distancing - doing so alone and/or in a well ventilated space. They should travel to and from work or between jobs alone.

"Testing remains a cornerstone of our response," she said. Rapid antigen tests will become the go-to testing tool.

"The use of rapid antigen tests will enable PCR testing to be protected for use in key workforces such as healthcare, for surveillance at the border, and as diagnostic process in hospitals and acute care settings.

"We currently have good stock numbers of rapid antigen tests, and will release more details on the application, distribution, supply and funding for them in the next few weeks."

She said critical infrastructure providers will be able to order RATs for critical workers from the Ministry of Health as and when they need it.

In Phase three, when cases are in the thousands, there will be further changes to contact tracing.

"The definition of contacts will change to household and household like contacts only. This will mean the highest risk contacts will need to isolate.

"Supported self-service, rapid antigen testing for diagnosing Covid and a self-service tool to enable identification of high risk contacts will be significant to respond to the high volumes of Omicron cases."

At Stage three cases will be encouraged to self-notify close contacts.

The new announcements came after the government set out?new rules for mask use?and gave an update on the?testing strategy?yesterday.

The plans have already attracted criticism, with?opposition parties accusing the government?of taking rapid antigen tests (RATs) from the private sector and treating the public like children.

But Dr Verrall said the plan was designed to avoid the health system being overwhelmed.

"The numbers are part of it, and the numbers are likely to be less than 1000 a day before moving between phase one and phase two. And in terms of between phase two and phase three it could be in the thousands but not the tens of thousands."

She said Omicron is "uniquely transmissible" but it is less severe, so there may be a smaller proportion of people who will need to go to hospital, but there may well be many more people getting the virus who may be at risk of needing to go to hospital, which would put pressure on the system.

She said contact tracing is not a perfect system, and there will always be an element of risk, the priority has to be on safeguarding as many people as possible.

End of quote.

Also, today in New Zealand there are new rules introduced on mask wearing, and again I quote from Radio New Zealand.

?The rules for mask wearing is about to change and things like a bandana or t-shirt across the face will?no longer count as a mask.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said under the red setting, masks must now be worn at food and drink businesses, close proximity businesses, events and gatherings. The same exceptions for when people are eating, drinking or exercising still apply.

Workers mandated to be vaccinated will have to wear a medical grade mask when working in public-facing roles, which includes blue medical grade masks.

University of Canterbury associate professor of epidemiology Arindam Basu says this is a welcomed move.

"The thing that will need to go with it is that there needs to be a bit more education and instruction ... in how to wear the mask."

A mask that is tightly fitted to the face is better than a cloth mask, he said.

University of Otago Wellington senior public health researcher Dr Lucy Telfar-Barnard said N95 and P2 were the best options because blue surgical masks were more likely to have leakage around the edges.

"I absolutely recommend them, if people are able to access them. I know that they're in short supply at the moment."

In the meantime, there are various ways of improving the fit of a blue surgical mask, Telfar-Barnard said.

"If you've got a lightweight cloth mask that fits you well you can wear that over the top, or you can use that blue mask cut down to use as a filter in a filter pocket in a cloth mask that fits well.

"You can use a mask brace - there are various arrangements of elastic bands or cut silicon that you can fit over your head. That will hold that close to the face and create that seal all around the cheeks and chin, as well as using the nose wire to make sure it fits well around the nose."

Masks in schools

School teachers across New Zealand will now have to wear medical-grade masks.

Auckland Primary Principals' Association President Stephen Lethbridge says he'd be lying if he said he wouldn't have been happier with N95 masks.

The ministry has secured a supply chain for appropriate masks for teachers and school workers. Lethbridge says they're hoping to have these before term one starts.

Some schools have been proactive in securing N95 masks, he said, but they're really hard to find.

Teachers and children from year 4 and up will now be required to wear masks in schools.

Individual schools will decide whether teachers of younger students will wear them, Lethbridge said.

"A number of schools are suggesting and probably putting into their health and safety practices that all the adults on site will wear masks."

Finding masks small enough for children is a challenge but Lethbridge says they adapt to wearing them.

"Never underestimate a child's ability to do the right thing," he said.

Schools have been designing ways for children to get a break from wearing them throughout the day.

Many schools will provide a mask if a child turns up without one, he said.

End of quote.

Sources.?Solomon Times On Line and Radio New Zealand.

Yours sincerely

Frank Short

www.solomonislandsinfocus.com