CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
REPUBLIC OF NAURU
Government Information Office
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
by
His Excellency President Lionel
Aingimea
Tuesday, 14 July 2020
In this week's situational update President Lionel Aingimea says
while Nauru remains coronavirus-free, sadly the number of people
affected globally is not slowing down, highlighting the resurgence
of confirmed cases in places closer to home in Victoria, Australia
which has entered a second wave of virus infections and across to
Fiji where eight new cases have been confirmed in the last
week.
The president says the statistics are frightening and while it
is obvious the number of global cases has exceeded Nauru's
population, in a regional context it has also exceeded the
population of the Pacific Islands.
President Aingimea reiterates the warning by WHO director
general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus that the virus is "public enemy
number one".
Nauru is one of only 12 countries in the world that has not yet
reported COVID-19 cases - ten of those are Pacific island countries
and five are all the Micronesian countries - including Nauru.
The president says it is very important we understand and
remember the magnitude of this virus and the tremendous efforts
that the Nauru government as well as governments of other
Micronesian countries have taken to respond to COVID-19 and protect
our borders.
In talks with other Micronesian leaders, President Aingimea says
the collective group is happy that Micronesians are at the
forefront of countries that are COVID-free.
Nauru will be reviewing its travel advisories partly because of
the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Victoria, Australia as well as
our quarantine measures that were put in place at the start of the
pandemic.
The president says it is the first time in over 100 years that
state borders with Victoria are locked as a measure to contain the
spread of the virus. Nauru will look at these measures and how
other countries are responding.
Travel restrictions would mean Nauruans cannot freely leave
Nauru and travel to Australia or other countries. For Nauru, this
will have direct impacts on overseas medical referrals and health
issues; overseas education and scholarships yet to be awarded this
year for studies abroad.
As the government tries to ensure things run as normal as
possible, the new reality of COVID-19 is unavoidable. Many things
have changed including face-to-face meetings which are now mostly
done by tele- or video conferencing.
The last passenger flight on Friday 10 July brought eight
passengers and two crew who are currently in quarantine. They will
be tested for COVID-19 this week and released if tests come back
negative.
The airline introduced passenger wellness packs containing
sanitising wipes for hands and surface and face masks.
Nauru Airlines will now require passengers to wear face masks
for the duration of the flight, aimed at protecting Nauru's
frontline workers such as health staff, immigration, quarantine and
customs officers.
President Aingimea says the global threat is increasing, so we
need to "up our game in protecting ourselves" and prevent a window
of opportunity for COVID-19 entry in to Nauru.
Construction at the RON Hospital acute block is making good
progress and the ward expected to be ready by September. This will
be used as ICU for people needing ventilator support.
President Aingimea thanks Digicel Nauru for donating a
ventilator machine which arrived on Friday and is being set up at
the hospital.
Digicel has provided ongoing support in other areas notably the
free service offered for text blasting COVID-19 messages.
Nauru is also taking part in WHO mechanisms to ensure Nauru can
get access to vaccines when they become available, with the
president sending a reminder that Nauru joins the vaccine queue and
it may be that given Nauru's COVID-free status, may not be at the
top of the list, but priority may be given to more vulnerable and
COVID-ravaged countries, therefore Nauru will go in accordance with
its position in the queue.
The Nauru Coronavirus Taskforce will stage a second practice
drill this Friday, 17 July. The drill expands from the first one in
May and will feature a fire scenario at the Budapest Hotel and
moving on to Location settlement and Buada district.
The public is reminded that this is a practice drill and anyone
involved are acting the role and do not have coronavirus.
Drills assist emergency services and stakeholders in addressing
and identifying gaps and response mechanisms.
The public is advised to stay updated via the official
government Facebook page 'The Government of the Republic of Nauru'
and Radio Nauru FM105.1 in regards to advisories for this
drill.
Global confirmed cases reported to the World Health Organisation
(WHO) on 13 July, have exceeded 12 million with over 566,000
deaths.
ENDS///
Issued by:
Nauru Government Information Office,
Republic of NAURU
Ph: +(674) 557 3009 E: gio.nauru@gmail.com / naurugovinfo@gmail.com /
www.naurugov.nr