CORONAVIRUS UPDATE by His Excellency President Lionel Aingimea
REPUBLIC
OF NAURU
Government
Information Office
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
by
His
Excellency President Lionel Aingimea
Monday, 20
April, 2020
Today,
Monday 20 April, marks one month since the Nauru Government placed
the first plane of arrivals in quarantine under its 'capture &
contain' policy to manage and minimise the impact of coronavirus in
Nauru.
In a
media briefing with the Government Information Office (GIO) today,
President Lionel Aingimea advised that Nauru remains
coronavirus-free.
Those
currently held in quarantine at the Budapest hotel have another
week to go of their 14 days, while those that have just arrived at
the Menen Hotel on Friday 17 April, begin their 14 days
quarantine.
The
President reiterated that coronavirus is passed on primarily from
human-to-human. The virus may be transmitted from one infected
person passing the virus onto a surface and another person
contacting that surface, and there is no other known or
scientifically proven transmission otherwise.
The Nauru
Coronavirus Coordinating Committee continues to talk with the Fiji
Government on moving Nauruan students from Suva to Nadi for their
repatriation flight home. Once those plans have been solidified,
they will be brought home.
Nauru
continues to host and assist other Pacific Islanders, including
weightlifters from Kiribati, Tuvalu, PNG and Solomon Islands, who
have completed their quarantine and awaiting to be repatriated back
to their home countries.
The
Government continues to communicate with the private sector,
especially Nauruan business owners in keeping abreast with food and
fuel stocks and advise where they might need assistance. Nauru
Airlines' assistance is also sought in reducing freight costs to
enable goods to be air freighted to fill any supply gap.
There
have been several incidents of security and perimeter breaches
reported over the past few weeks and as such President Lionel
Aingimea said warrants action under the 'capture & contain'
policy to ensure the community is protected from any possible
spread of infection.
An
incident over the weekend where a group of friends visited a friend
in quarantine were considered to be in close proximity of the
resident have since been contained until further tests are
done.
Unfortunately, as a result of this one incident, six nurses
were among the people this group came in contact with before they
were contained. Being nurses, and fully aware of the implications
of this contact, the nurses have since self-isolated at home and
advised their families of the situation and to do the
same.
This one
incident has taken out six health care professionals, further
adding burden to the hospital's limited resources and medical
staff.
As a
result of the various security breaches over the month, security at
the quarantine sites, Budapest and Menen Hotel have been beefed up
with additional police, security and CLO's. Regulations have been
passed to ensure the 'capture & contain' policy is adhered
to.
The
President warns that people caught flouting quarantine rules and
regulations will face hefty fines and penalties. He also warned
about being complacent and advised the community to remain
vigilant. "We must never lose our guard. We must never bring down
our guard."
Education
is one of the key things the Nauru Government is looking at to
inform Nauruans about coronavirus. The President said dealing with
coronavirus is a national effort, and therefore educating parents,
children and the whole population, is vital for Nauru.
In the
event there is a confirmed case on the island the Ministry of
Health and the Coronavirus Coordinating Committee have identified
isolation and treatment facilities to remove infected persons from
the community while they are being treated and cared for by medical
staff.
At the
time of posting, coronavirus has taken lives globally, and
according to the World Health Organisation, approximately 13 times
the Nauru population.
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