Vanuatu Situation Report – Issued 21 April Covering 20 to 21 April 2022

SUMMARY AND DISEASE BURDEN

• On 04 March 2022, an active COVID-19 case was confirmed at Vila Central Hospital who had no travel history, indicating transmission at community level.
• As of 21 April 2022, Shefa have moved to Recovery level 2 and Sanma, Torba province and Pentecost are at Alert Level 3 (Very High) due to large-scale community transmission. The other two provinces of Vanuatu are at Alert Level 1 (Medium Risk) due to the risk of importation of COVID-19.
• A total of 6648 confirmed cases have been reported since the beginning of 2022.
• 63 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, including 14 on Efate island (Shefa province) and 49 on Santo island (Sanma province).
• Currently, there are 2 cases hospitalized directly due to COVID-19 infection in SHEFA, both cases are in stable condition. Further investigation ongoing for hospitalized cases reported in SANMA.
• There have been unverified reports of cases in Penama Province; provincial teams have been deployed to investigate.

Vanuatu Situation Report – Issued 20 April Covering 19 to 20 April 2022

SUMMARY AND DISEASE BURDEN

• On 04 March 2022, an active COVID-19 case was confirmed at Vila Central Hospital who had no travel history, indicating transmission at community level.
• As of 20 April 2022, Shefa, Sanma and Torba provinces are at Alert Level 3 (Very High). The other three provinces of Vanuatu are at Alert Level 1 (Medium Risk) due to the risk of importation of COVID-19.
• A total of 6537 confirmed cases have been reported since the beginning of 2022.
• 43 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, including 15 on Efate island (Shefa province), 20 on Santo island (Sanma province) and 8 in Torres (Torba Province)
• Currently, there are 2 cases hospitalized directly due to COVID-19 infection in SHEFA, both cases are in stable condition. Further investigation ongoing for hospitalized cases reported in SANMA.
• There have been unverified reports of cases in Penama Province; provincial teams have been deployed to investigate.
• Five (5) additional deaths, 2 from Shefa province and 3 from Sanma province that were included in this report. Three males, 29 year old unvaccinated with underlying health conditions, 31 years old fully vaccinated with underlying health conditions and 92 years old vaccinated with underlying health condition; two females, 50 and 57 years old both vaccinated and had underlying health conditions. All 5 deaths occurred several days ago but have recently been confirmed to be due to COVID-19 infection.

The Ministry of Health have released a new Health Roadmap to Safe Recovery that lays the path for reducing COVID-19 restrictions and returning to a ‘new normal’. This allows repatriations to re-start as the beginning of a 3-level recovery approach towards opening international borders to tourists by 1 July 2022.

Today the Ministry of Health confirmed 29 positive cases of COVID-19 in Torba Province and 25 on Pentecost Island. All of Torba Province and Pentecost Island will move immediately to Level 3 of the Vanuatu Outbreak Alert System, which means there is widespread community transmission, and the risk is very high.