87 new positive COVID-19 cases have been reported today.
The Minister of Health and Medical Services Dr. Culwick Togamana gave the update during his daily COVID-19 situation update this evening.
He says of the 87 cases 63 are new cases reported within the 24-hour reporting period while 24 cases were from swabs collected earlier in the provinces.
Of the 63 new cases, 38 are in Honiara while 25 are from the provinces. The cumulative total for the country now stands at 4,910 positive COVID-19 cases.
For the provinces Malaita has recorded 23 new cases, Guadalcanal recorded 2 new cases, Choiseul recorded 7 new cases and Isabel recorded 5 new cases. West is yet to send in an updated report while Makira has not registered any new cases. Temotu and Rennell Bellona provinces remain free from COVID-19.
The Health Minister says 10 additional samples were sent to Australia to confirm the variant and says all 10 samples had traces of the Delta variant. He says we can now be certain that the variant infecting the population is Delta.
He says vaccinations are continuing at the Lawson Tama stadium and at the Solomon Ports carpark, and encourages the public to come forward and get vaccinated.