President Lionel Aingimea reassures Nauruans that Nauru remains coronavirus-free, thanks largely to the country’s capture & contain policy and the public’s understanding to assist in the national effort to keep Nauru safe.
The next flight from Brisbane will arrive on Friday 1 May with 27 passengers. They will be taken to the Meneñ Hotel and Anibare Village for their 14 days quarantine. One Nauruan fisheries observer is also waiting on a vessel at sea and will disembark at the same arrival time as the Brisbane flight. He will then go into quarantine with this group.
The Coronavirus Taskforce and the Nauru Police Force are working on a national response drill while the hospital is also working on its own drill.
The drills are to test the response systems and educate the public on what some of the impacts could be as well as identify gaps.
President Aingimea said the Nauru Police have engaged 33 reserves who have been briefed on the rules and regulations of the quarantine areas and are currently undergoing other necessary training.
The Ministry of Health is expecting a second oxygen plant which would more than double the oxygen capacity for the island.
And as previously stated by the President, the equipment and testing kits for coronavirus are on island and the hospital is now awaiting the arrival of validation kits on Friday 1 May. The validation kit will be run and sample tests performed in the coming weeks to ensure proper testing and operation of the machine.
Since the last quarantined group checked out from the Budapest Hotel, the exit damage report reveals damages to the walls of some rooms and items stolen such as electric kettles.
“This is really not acceptable,” President Aingimea said and underscored that extra spending will now be diverted to pay for and repair these damages as well as replace missing items taken from the rooms.
The incidents are now under investigation by Nauru Police and charges will be laid accordingly.
Since the start of the government’s measures to respond to the global pandemic of coronavirus, President Aingimea says the Nauru Government has spent over $1 million on medical supplies and over $500,000 on quarantine, plus a small amount in other areas requiring government assistance to ensure Nauru’s capture & contain policy is effective.
The President said it must be understood that money must be spent to address this important medical issue and enable us to confront the fight against COVID-19.
The Government has spent a lot of money in the last week to bring in extra freighter flights for supplies such as fresh produce, frozen food, flour and other essentials.
The President confirms another four freighters will arrive this week and reiterates there is no need to hoard and panic buy for essential items but urges everyone to “go about life as normal… we still have supplies being flown in.”