23 March 2022, Port Vila

Ministry of Health urges people to get tested if experiencingCOVID-19 symptoms at the referral hospitals throughout Vanuatu

The Ministry of Health is advising the public in other provinces to get tested for COVID-19 if experiencing flulike symptoms or other COVID-19 symptoms at their referral hospital.

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.
• On 07 March 2022, Efate and Offshore Islands moved to Alert Level 3: Very High, due to large-scale community transmission. All provinces of Vanuatu are on Alert Level 3 given reports of cases or movement of contacts of cases in the six provinces of Vanuatu.
• A total of 1,117 confirmed cases have been reported since the beginning of 2022.
• 47 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, including 38 on Efate island (Shefa province) and 9 on Santo island (Sanma province).
• Everyone is urged to refer only to official information sources and to avoid spreading misinformation and rumours. Further information and updates are made available by the Ministry of Health on the dedicated COVID-19 website at www.covid19.gov.vu, the Health Promotion Unit Facebook page, and by calling the Health Information Hotline on 119.

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.
• On 07 March 2022, Efate and Offshore Islands moved to Alert Level 3: Very High, due to large-scale community transmission. All provinces of Vanuatu are on Alert Level 3 given reports of cases or movement of contacts of cases in the six provinces of Vanuatu.
• A total of 1,025 confirmed cases have been reported since the beginning of 2022.
• 88 new confirmed cases have been reported in the last 24 hours, including 77 on Efate island (Shefa province) and 11 on Santo island (Sanma province).
• 3 cases are currently hospitalised due to COVID-19, with 1 critically ill.

21 March 2022, Port Vila

The Vila Central Hospital is decentralizing its Outpatient Department (OPD) services to other health facilities within the Port Vila area and other health facilities in South, North Efate, and Offshore Islands.

The Ministry of Health would like to inform the general public of Efate and its Offshore islands that the Outpatient Department at the Vila Central Hospital will now only be used for emergencies and referrals.