Nishimura's Pen

  BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO ELEVEN additional samples from the ongoing contact tracing on the reactivation case in Malaita have tested negative for covid-19. Pauline McNeil, permanent secretary for Ministry of Health and Medical Services, confirmed this yesterday at the covid-19 radio talkback show. “Follow-up from our health personnel, they managed to swab 11 primary contacts of the person and they are all tested negative so can be rest assured that there is no evidence of community transmission and the risk is low. “Thank you to the families who have come forward and help the health workers to continue their contact tracing and monitoring but at the same time the health workers continue to monitor other, in case there is search on illness like flu, they are on standby to do that work as well,” said McNeil. PS Health Ministry Pauline McNeil   She said to date in terms of the number of cases the country record still stands at 18. “Out of that 18 we still have four accommo

  BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO ONE hundred and twenty-two occupants are set to graduate today from the government-funded facilities, says Health Permanent Secretary, Pauline McNeil. Permanent Secretary, Pauline McNeil  Mrs McNeil said: “For our quarantine occupants who have repatriated into the country and currently accommodated at the Governments funded facilities we have 303 occupants. “Today 122 persons will graduate so that leaves us the balance of those who have flew in from the high-risk countries and those who flew in from Philippines,” she said. McNeil said these left-over quarantine occupants have had their mandatory quarantine period extended to another 21 days. She adds, over the last week a small incident of breach of the State of Public Emergency (SOPE) involving two foreigners who disembarked their vessel occurred. McNeil said this breach is in the sense that they were not allowed to disembark the vessel. “They went to nearby village opposite Noro port so we

 BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO AND BANARBAS MANEBONA THE fourth Manila repatriation flight is likely on March 7 but is yet to be confirmed, said Dr Jimmie Rodgers, deputy secretary to the Oversight Committee, yesterday. “We are looking at one more flight to Manila because we still have more than 40 students left in the Philippines. “Tentatively this flight is schedule for 7th of March 2021, but we have to reconfirm whether that is the date or it will be delayed because we are trying to also link people from other parts of the world on to that destination,” said Rodgers. Dr Jimmie Rodgers, deputy secretary to the Oversight Committee He said this is because there are still some people from the UK, USA, and also there are foreigner nationals yet to come to work on the major projects like the Tina Hydro, the airport construction, the road construction. “They have been approved to come so we are looking putting them together in one location, to send the flight to Manila to pick them

  BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO   National referral hospital (NRH) has rebuffed observations that ‘sleeping on the floor due to lack of bed’ is one contributing factor to deaths at the emergency ward. Chief Executive Officer of NRH, Dr George Malefoasi says, “There is never an evidence shows patient die or increasing the severity of illness of a person who slept on the floor due to bed shortage because the hospital wards are disinfected daily by our cleaners. National Referral Hospital, Solomon Islands  “Whilst bed shortage is an ongoing hospital management issues, there are no evidence or an incident where people die because of sleeping on the floor at the hospital. “These hospital wards are disinfected daily by our cleaners. “However, the overcrowding of the wards will be jeopardising the infection control measures undertaken. “This is why the hospital management is so concern of too many people coming in the hospital. Unfortunately, it can be deemed as people coming to h

20 beds, 60-100 patients per day at the Emergency BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO The Emergency Department (ED) at the national referral hospital (NRH) sees 60 to 100 patients per day. This is with only 20 beds. And, this imbalance in service versus patients is doubling, says Dr George Malefoasi, chief executive officer of the NRH. Mr Malefoasi also indicated that such overcrowding promotes more illness and death. Dr George Malefoasi, chief executive officer of the NRH In trying to address this problem, NRH is resorting to med-term solutions such as buying more mattresses for the ED, discharging patients in time at the inpatient wards, and bed-sharing among the in-patient wards. Recently, concerns were raised on patients having to wait on the floor, or the benches at the nearby outpatient, along the corridor, any space one could lay or sit on. Replying to enquiries via email on the matter last week, Malefoasi admits that “Bed shortage is an [on]going issue at our main referral hosp

  But authorities say it is being addressed BY MAVIS NISHIMURA PODOKOLO BED shortage at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) is being addressed, hospital authorities say. The hospital’s chief executive officer Dr George Malefoasi admitted bed shortage is an ongoing clinical and management issue and they are taking steps to address it. Chief executive officer Dr  George Malefoasi “Therefore, the doctors, nurses along with the management are engaging in monitoring, discussing and finding ways to manage the bed demand and shortage issues as a daily routine as well as longer strategic measures,” Malefoasi said. “The ideal situation is providing more beds which means building additional wards and so on but this is medium and long tern plan of the Government,” he added. Malefoasi said initially, at the Emergency Department (ED), the management bought additional mattresses for patients to use whilst suitable beds are freed up. “Communications among sections and ED will be streng