Surveillance is the ongoing, systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of health-related data. Data is used to inform, and evaluate, public health measures for control of COVID-19 in Vanuatu. Surveillance for COVID-19 in Vanuatu incorporates a range of data sources, including traveller surveillance, case investigation and contact tracing, syndromic and sentinel surveillance, targeted active case finding, laboratory surveillance, hospital surveillance, and vaccination surveillance.
Surveillance Update 14 October 2022
Highlights
Highlights for Epi Week 40 of 2022
- A total of 11,962 individuals with COVID-19 were detected in Vanuatu until the end of EpiWeek 40 2022 (2 during EpiWeek 40)
- A total of six provinces, including 45 islands, were affected by the end of EpiWeek 40
- The number of cases reported decreased nationally in EpiWeek 40 by 89%
- Until the end of EpiWeek 40:
- Cases that were not fully vaccinated were 2.3 times more likely to be hospitalised compared to fully vaccinated cases
- Cases that were not fully vaccinated were 2.1 times as likely to have critical COVID-19 infection compared to fully vaccinated cases
- Cases that were not fully vaccinated were 3.2 times as likely to have severe COVID-19 infection compared to fully vaccinated cases
- Cases that were not fully vaccinated were 1.5 times more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated cases
- Changes to this report
- Priority groups for COVID-19 testing in Vanuatu after 1 July 2022 include: (1) Recent international travellers (2) Any person who is at risk of severe disease or hospitalisation for COVID-19 who presents with COVID-19 symptoms at a health facility and (3) any person admitted to a hospital across Vanuatu with influenza-like illness
- Due to the changes in the COVID-19 testing strategy, cases notified are no longer representative of cases in the broader population. Therefore, this report will focus on describing overall cases, hospitalisations and deaths
- Sections that provided a more detailed description of provincial distribution and characteristics of cases will no longer be included