COVID threatens fragile health care systems in Pacific nations: report | Coronavirus pandemic News

The record rise in COVID-19 cases is threatening to overtake hospitals and fragile health systems. PacificFrom Solomon Islands to Palau, according to The International Federation of Red Cross Red Cross Associations (IFRC) is calling for immediate action to reduce the spread of the virus.

“Every effort should be made to prevent and control the virus,” said IFRC’s Pacific delegation chief Katie Greenwood. He said in a statement on Tuesday that a delayed vaccination in some countries was “essential” for the effort.

For nearly two years, most Pacific countries have managed to keep the spread of coronavirus at bay with quarantine and blocking measures, aided by their geographical isolation. For some countries, this is the first time they have seen an increase in cases.

“These new outbreaks in small Pacific countries are threatening health systems that are fragile and struggling to meet the needs of the Pacific islands,” Greenwood said.

Solomon Islands is undergoing a first community outbreak, with more than 780 confirmed cases and the first five deaths associated with COVID-19, forcing a blockade on the capital Honiara.

Reports suggest that due to limited testing capacity, the actual number of national cases of 700,000 people is likely to be higher than reported.

This weekend a #ZureADF @AusAirForce The C-17A Globemaster transported members of the Australian Aid Medical Team and critical medical supplies to the Solomon Islands in response to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases.

???? Jarrod McAneney CPL pic.twitter.com/jSHm6CxQvg

– Joint Operations Command (@hqjoc) January 31, 2022

Australia has deployed a medical team to the Pacific nation following a request from the government to strengthen it. They also carried a shipment of more than 30,000 doses of vaccine, which arrived over the weekend.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at the end of January, less than a third of the country’s population was vaccinated, and only 10 percent were fully vaccinated.

In recent months, Solomon Islands has struggled with political unrest After Manasseh Sogavare’s attempt to oust Prime Minister. He survived a no-confidence motion in parliament in December, but accused “Taiwanese agents” of orchestrating a request to remove him because of China’s pro-Chinese policy.

Farther southeast of Fiji, the country is suffering from the third wave of COVID-19, driven by the Omicron variant.

On Monday, Fiji’s chief health official, Dr James Fong, said the government was reviewing its containment policy to ensure it was able to deal with the new highly transmissible variant.

“We need to see if we need tougher measures of oppression or if we need to focus on individual measures to eliminate it,” the Fong Fijian Broadcasting Corporation’s news website said.

Kiribati and Palau have also registered community cases after being in COVID-free countries since the beginning of the pandemic. disaster-stricken Tonga It remains without COVID, although there have been concerns about the transmission after the arrival of a support vessel, which had an appearance on its way to the country.

“Vaccine confidence is essential”

Greenwood of the Red Cross said building “vaccine trust” in the Pacific was essential to ensure the inclusion of a critical mass of people in all countries.

“While vaccination rates are significant in some Pacific countries, others are still too low. It is critical that vaccine doses reach the last mile for everyone in the Pacific with reliable information on how to protect vaccines from serious illness and death,” he said.

Countries like Palau and Fiji have reported high vaccination rates. Palau reports that 96% of the population is fully vaccinated, while Fiji is about 68% of the population.

But other countries, such as Solomon Islands, are still lagging behind.

In Vanuatu, only 22 percent are fully vaccinated, while in Kiribati, only one in three people is fully vaccinated.

The lack of resources and limited equipment and health infrastructure in many Pacific countries has also exacerbated logistics and communities spread across remote islands, making it difficult to provide health care, the IFRC said.

Pacific countries will also experience cyclones and floods in the coming weeks, while responding to other disasters in response to the eruption of the Tongan volcano and the tsunami.

“Many people in the Pacific are facing a double whammy of severe disasters and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In Fiji, Cyclone Cody has affected tens of thousands of people as the country’s recent increase in COVID has increased.”

Greenwood said these Pacific countries “should not change one disaster with another.”