Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has disclosed that Chengs is now classified as a high-risk quarantine station.

Speaking during his nation-wide address today, the Prime Minister said this follows the detection of the 3rd positive case at Chengs, and from advise from the Public Health Emergency Surveillance Unit.

The Prime Minister said based on health risk assessments, several students that have been assessed as ‘low risk’ have been shifted over the weekend from Chengs, to two other approved quarantine facilities with tight security.

Prime Minister Sogavare said this will allow Camp Management to relocate some students considered to have had high risk of exposure to the 3 index cases to single rooms at Chengs.

“Based on our testing protocol for people arriving from high risk countries, the fourth and the final test have been collected yesterday,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the fourth round of test is very important.

“The results will tell us which way the Covid-19 situation is heading within our quarantine stations, so we await the results in anticipation,” he said.

Prime Minister Sogavare also adds that the Oversight Committee will make a recommendation to Cabinet on whether the quarantine period at the Chengs Quarantine Station will be extended and for how long, as well as the additional number of Covid-19 testings during this period.

“Based on normal practice, the quarantine period is normally extended from the last date of exposure, which in the case of Chengs, is the 13th of October 2020, the date when the last sample was collected.

The extended period will apply to all students who are still at Chengs as well as to the students that had been shifted from Chengs to other quarantine facilities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said a separate risk assessment was also undertaken for those who are quarantined at the GBR quarantine station because no one has tested positive from this site.

“A decision on those quarantined at the GBR quarantine station will be made after the results of the fourth test are available this week,” he said.

Source: OPMC