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Some Pacific island nations are suddenly experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases after nearly two years without one, as the virus (thought in most cases to be the more contagious variant Omicron) breaks through the defenses they have successfully built since the pandemic began.
Kiribati, Samoa, Palau and the Solomon Islands have all experienced outbreaks in the past three weeks. The countries have adopted different strategies to deal with the arrival of the virus, with some imposing lockdowns while others rely on high levels of vaccinations to protect themselves.
There are still concerns about how they will cope given their remoteness and fragile health system, with many locals fearful.
Kiribati: “Caught off guard”
Two weeks ago, a plane from Fiji carried 54 passengers, two-thirds of whom were infected with the coronavirus. It was the first international flight to arrive in Kiribati in 10 months. Diagnosed with the virus upon arrival.
Since then, the epidemic situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. As of Friday, the island nation had a total of 201 confirmed cases, and the virus has spread from the capital Tarawa to Butaritari, an outer island located 186 kilometers to the north.
The government has imposed a total lockdown, which was extended for a week on Thursday, with people only allowed to leave their homes to attend essential services. The cases in Butaritari arrived on a boat from Tarawa but were not tested until they had already been in the community for several days.
Kitina Etau, a South Tarawa businessman from Butaritari, is worried about her 70-year-old father who remains on the island.
“I am surprised that passengers were allowed on board despite the lockdown measures being implemented on Saturday,” Etau said.
Etao, who has yet to hear from his father due to limited communications on the island, is concerned that while the infected passengers are now in quarantine, he may have come into contact with them as his father had been on board the ship awaiting cargo.
As cases continue to escalate, there are concerns that the virus is spreading faster than testing can take place on the island.
Tabutoa Elia, a doctor on the front lines who also works for the government, wrote on Facebook that medical teams would no longer be sent out for community testing, appearing to indicate that critical resources were running short.
“We are reserving testing kits and other resources for patients with underlying conditions because they are the ones who are hit hardest by the virus,” Elia said.
Palau: “We can only rely on ourselves”
First case of community transmission Palau The case was reported on January 10th — as of Thursday, just over two weeks later, the Ministry of Health had reported nearly 800 cases in a region of the country with just 18,000 people.
Despite the sharp increase in infections and pleas from traditional chiefs last week, the government has ruled out a lockdown or border closure as it is confident of the country’s 96% vaccination rate among the eligible population (five and over) and evidence that the Omicron vaccine is less likely to lead to hospitalizations.
Instead, it closed schools and encouraged people to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
One mother of four said she felt the government was doing less and less as cases began to increase.
“Since the coronavirus inevitably arrived on our small island nation, I feel like we are on our own with little to no help from the government,” she said.
It is not yet clear how the virus entered the community. The Ministry of Health said in a press release on January 5 that three positive cases had been detected on December 31, and did not respond to requests for more information, citing privacy reasons.
Senator Stevenson Cuarte, also a doctor, said the surge in COVID-19 cases has put additional pressure on Palau’s already “weak” health sector, especially as doctors and nurses have been “frozen” due to the pandemic.
The Ministry of Health is also running out of quarantine space.
Health Minister Gaafar Uherbelau said he expected the number of cases to increase dramatically in the coming weeks “because of the highly transmissible nature of the Omicron variant, which we suspect is now present in Palau.”
He added: “We are currently monitoring cases and if there is a surge in the number of patients that needs to be admitted to a level that is beyond the capacity of the hospitals, then we will consider implementing additional community mitigation strategies.”
Solomon Islands: From zero to 100 cases in 12 hours
Solomon Islands reported its first case of community transmission on January 19; 12 hours later, the country had recorded more than 100 cases, and within two days, 50 nurses at the country’s largest national referral hospital tested positive.
“We need to work together now to make sure we get this under control,” Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said in an address to the nation. The country is in its first lockdown and reported its first two deaths from Covid-19 earlier this week. Soared to nearly 700.
But with just 59 beds at the Honiara National Isolation Centre and the outbreak occurring at the underfunded main hospital, there are concerns about whether the health system can cope. Vaccination rates are also low in the country – as of January 13, just 264,085 doses had been administered to the country’s population of about 700,000.
“Our people are not ready to deal with an outbreak like this,” said taxi driver Walter Kito, adding that his business had also been affected and he had no money to feed his family. “I urge those who have not yet been vaccinated to do so now.”
Samoa: A country in panic
The country lost more than 20% of its population in the 1918 influenza pandemic, and a measles outbreak three years ago claimed the lives of 83 infants and children, and the arrival of the new coronavirus has caused even more panic.
The number has been growing steadily since 10 passengers tested positive upon arrival Samoa The infection first emerged on a flight from Australia on January 19. Since then, 12 more passengers and five nurses caring for them have tested positive, bringing the total number of infections to 27 as of Thursday.
The confusion was compounded by a lack of clear communication from the government about the cases, which was compounded by the fact that the government had not declared a move to alert level 3, which would have been triggered if there were 10 or more cases.
However, after the number of cases reached 15 on Saturday, Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa announced a 48-hour lockdown, which has since been extended. The lockdown includes a complete closure of borders and the closure of inter-island travel and internal transport. It is an unprecedented move, Samoa There has also been a request for the quarantine of 250 frontline staff who handled the infected passengers and who are currently stationed at the National Hospital in Motutua for 21 days.
“This decision is in the interest of the country and their respective families,” said Health Director-General Leausa Take Naseri, who also called on quarantine hotel managers and employees to self-isolate at their places of work.
“In the national interest, we must contain the spread of the virus within the quarantine zone.”
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