The Leader of opposition office, Hon. Matthew Wale is questioning the decision by the Government to allow one high risk passenger to be quarantined with lower risk ones at the King Solomon hotel quarantine centre, right in the heart of the city.
Hon. Wale says the decision to allow this single high-risk passenger to stay with other low-risk passengers, shows the weakness in the contact tracing protocol, and that this action only reflects the lack of effective coordination and management of process to preventing the spread of the virus.
The Opposition Leader adds that the decision taken by those responsible is contradictory to comments by the Prime Minister in his special address last week that all the returning 16 soccer players were seated together in the flight, minimising the potential of spreading the virus to other passengers.
“The decision to put them together in one location, is a risky and bad one, as this could have created the potential for the virus to spread,” says Hon. Wale.
The Opposition Leader added that the announcement of one positive case in this location, particularly in the heart of Honiara, is a result of negligence and failure to follow strict protocols, which shows the failure of the Government to ensure that protocols are strictly adhered to.
“I must say, that negligence and breach of the contact tracing protocols is dangerous to the efforts to prevent the virus from spreading to other parts of the country,” Opposition Leader points out.
Hon. Wale on the other hand, acknowledges the hard work and commitment of all our front-liners, medical personnel and the essential services agencies of Government for their untiring work to protect spreading of the virus. He reiterates the importance to inform our people to stay safe and practice simple hygiene and basic health such as washing of hands to minimise spread of the virus.
The Opposition Leader however, reiterates his call for the Government to do the right thing to ensure that serious actions are taken to minimise any possible spreading of the virus in the country.
Source: Opposition Press Release