Solomon Islands

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said this now brought to 12 the number of students who had contracted the coronavirus there.

All had been asymptomatic.

The latest six are from a group of 144 students scheduled to be on one of two repatriation flights next week.

They had undergone the first of three tests before the flight.

The Solomon Star newspaper reported the results were received by the government on Tuesday.

Sogavare said students who had tested negative were staying in two hotels while waiting for repatriation flights on 27 and 29 September.

This was confirmed by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare on Sunday.

"We have spoken with some parents. We will continue our efforts to contact and speak with the other parents. Some students have already informed their parents," Sogavare said.

It comes after months of failed appeals for repatriation from the Solomon Islands students association in the Philippines to Honiara, citing concerns for their personal safety.

The Philippines has had over 4000 Covid-19 deaths and well over 200,000 cases have been confirmed so far.

The worker flew into the Solomons with about 80 other Chinese nationals, many of whom will construct stadia for the 2023 Pacific Games.

The Covid-19 Oversight Committee said the worker passed a package to a Chinese national outside of quarantine, who owns a hardware store in Honiara.

The Solomon Times reported that person had now been quarantined at the Pacific Casino for 14 days.

The Ministry of Health said it was continuing to investigate the breach.

A number of projects funded by the Chinese government were scheduled to get underway this year, including the construction of a new national stadium in Honiara, while the Indonesian government had indicated the multi-purpose hall could be completed by the end of next year.

But the on-going effects of Covid-19 were beginning to bite, with design teams from China still unable to get on the ground.

Around 300 people are expected to be repatriated over the next two weeks.

The Secretary to the Prime Minister, Jimmy Rodgers, said the first flight from Brisbane would have 132 people on board.

He said another on Wednesday would bring 130 people from Fiji.

"Every country there is a second-phase of this virus going up," Mr Rodgers said.

"Instead of dropping our guard in this country it is now time for us to even tighten our guard further. Because now the reason is we are also looking at bringing our people home to safety."

This was revealed by Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare in a national address on Friday.

Mr Sogavare said the country's newly established testing facilities have the potential to carry out more than 3000 tests although the current capacity is at around 500.

He said so far four people who displayed symptoms of COVID-19 have been tested locally.

"Therefore, we have undertaken a total of 17 COVID-19 tests altogether, 13 done overseas and four done in country. All results, negative," Mr Sogavare said.

A number of big projects funded by the Chinese government were scheduled to get underway this year, including the construction of the new national stadium in Honiara, while the Indonesian government had indicated the multi-purpose hall could be completed by the end of next year.

Lead advisor to the National Hosting Authority, Clint Flood, said the majority of facilities were still in the design stage and they did not expect Covid-19 would impact the construction timeline at this stage.

The director of the national disaster office, Loti Yates, said much of the plains are under water after days of torrential rain, and several villages have lost their food source.

Mr Yates said the plains also supply much of the food for the densely-populated capital, Honiara.

"These are the communities that are actually feeding Honiara and the markets, and so that's going to impact on their livelihoods as well. So it's going to be a huge challenge for us."

It is understood the vessel MV Taimareho was carrying passengers from the capital Honiara to West Are Are in Malaita Province last night when it encountered bad conditions.

The Solomon Islands Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre says it only received word of the stricken ship's ordeal late this morning, and its officers are scrambling to launch a rescue operation.

According to the cente, the vessel encountered very rough seas and strong winds whipped up by Cyclone Harold between 2am and 3am this morning - a number of passengers were washed overboard.

The Solomon Islands Meteorology Service said a Tropical Cyclone Warning is current for all Solomon Islands provinces.

The category 1 system is slamming Solomon Islands as it makes it way down the country, heading towards Vanuatu.

On Friday, the Director of the Director of the National Disaster Management Office, Loti Yates, said at least two ships had been washed ashore, fallen trees were blocking roads and the power was out in many areas.