A 55-YEAR-OLD Maria Isabel has welcomed the development of the new Isolation Unit in Nila, Shortland Islands.
This after the COVID-19 pandemic brought fears to the community due to no Isolation Unit to accommodate patients.
Maria Isabel was born and raised in Sapusapuwae community, a village made up of less than 10 houses, near Nila station, Shortland Islands
She later married and accompanied her husband to live in his home village in Toumoa on a nearby island but later moved back to Sapusapuwae so her grandchildren and children could go to school at the Roman Catholic-run schools in Nila.
Maria was baking coconut scones in her kitchen on a rainy afternoon in Sapusapuwae when Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS) Communication Officers approached her. She dusted off the flour from her hands and gestured them to go into her kitchen.
“Are you here with the group that is building the new isolation unit?” She asked with a wide toothy grin.
The Communication Officers nodded and she continued, “During COVID, my family and relatives in the village heard stories about how people overseas were suffering and dying from this new and deadly illness and so we were equally afraid when we found out we had some patients sick with COVID at the Nila Clinic. We did not move around much unless we urgently needed food and other necessities from the shop.
“They (COVID patients) were isolated at the building just next to the road that we use to go to the shop, school, church and to access the main clinic, and so walking past was a challenge. Most of the times we took the path through the bush to avoid the buildings the COVID patients were in, just so we did not catch the deadly flu.
“We are happy that the isolation unit will be located away from the public road that we use. Overall, it will help us, the people of Shortlands as we now have a secure place where we can look after and nurse our sick patients comfortably without posing any risk to the public,” Maria Isabel said.
The isolation unit at Nila clinic is one of three the Ministry of Health and Medical Services is building. The other two are at the Good Samaritan Hospital at Tetere on Guadalcanal and at the Helena Goldie Hospital, worth around SBD16.8 million.
It is financed by the World Bank through the Project Management Unit. The assistance is part of enhancing capacities and capabilities to respond more effectively to COVID-19 and future outbreaks of diseases and infections as well as strengthening the health system.
(MHMS/SOLSTAR)
