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Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Incident Executive Group (IEG) have regularly prepared, implemented and reviewed plans and procedures for St Helena’s defence against the virus. Here we look at the Health Directorate’s plan of action should a positive case of COVID-19 present during home quarantine on St Helena.

Arrangements remain in place for mandatory testing before departure for St Helena, testing on arrival, and at the end of the mandatory 14 days of quarantine.  Every effort is being taken to ensure, should an arrival to the Island test positive for COVID-19, that this is contained in quarantine.   

Illness or symptoms to be reported

If a person in home quarantine falls ill or presents symptoms, it is important that this is communicated to the Health Directorate.  This could be done through their daily telephonic check in, or through contacting the General Hospital and speaking to the Doctor on duty.  In milder cases, assessments can often be made through a series of questions conducted via telephone. 

In more serious cases however, for example if the person has difficulty breathing, it might be necessary to call 911 and to have health professionals attend the person at home.  When calling 911, the person should advise the operator that they are in quarantine.  In any case, the ambulance crew will carry appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) which they will don before entering the home under quarantine. 

The doctor involved in assessing the case will consult with the Senior Medical Officer on the next steps.  The Senior Medical Officer will have the ultimate decision on how to manage that case. 

What if someone does not present symptoms?

It is possible for someone to have contracted COVID-19 but to be free from any symptoms.  This means that they are asymptomatic but they are able to infect others.  If an asymptomatic person is identified prior to travel, they will be denied access to the repatriation flight. 

In the case of an asymptomatic patient being identified at the end of quarantine, they and their family in quarantine with them, who would have travelled with them, will not be released from quarantine.  A different testing regime is in place for this scenario.  The whole of the household will remain in quarantine until each person has two negative test results, done 48 hours apart.     

Positive mild symptomatic or asymptomatic cases could continue to isolate at home

A person that tests positive for COVID-19, could complete their quarantine at home if they are in quarantine alone and if their symptoms are mild (or they have no symptoms). They will be remotely monitored for deterioration by health professionals.  

A person who tests positive for COVID-19 and who is quarantining with others in the household, but is well enough to remain at home would be advised to Isolate themselves from the rest of the household, have NO physical contact with any other person(s) within the household and to maintain good and regular disinfection of surfaces. 

During the Home Quarantine property assessments, the Health Directorate ensures that homes used for quarantine provide the physical capacity to isolate a symptomatic patient from the rest of the household. 

If this kind of isolation from the rest of the household was not possible the person would be moved to the Bradleys Hospital facility. 

Positive serious symptomatic cases transported to Bradleys Hospital facility immediately

In the case of a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and who is experiencing serious symptoms:

Contact Tracing

In the event that a person tests positive for COVID-19, it is then necessary to assess their most recent contacts.  Contact tracing is a process that allows officials to determine whether others have potentially been exposed to COVID-19.  On St Helena this process is managed by the Police Directorate in collaboration with the Health Directorate. 

A close contact is identified as someone who has been within 1m of the person that has tested positive for COVID-19 for a sustained period of time (15 minutes or more). 

If a contact is identified, it will be necessary for that contact to be tested for COVID-19.  The Health Directorate will require the individual to isolate until confirmed negative for COVID-19. 

Medical staff to quarantine

All medical staff involved in delivering care at Bradleys Hospital facility will wear PPE and adhere to the guidelines in place. Those in constant contact with patients would be classified as contacts and would therefore have to quarantine at Bradleys. 

Every effort continues to be made to reduce the risk of COVID-19 reaching St Helena through the testing regime and quarantine measures.  However, should a positive case arise, protocols are in place to manage this and to minimise the risk of community spread. 

Members of the public are encouraged to respect those persons in home quarantine, but to report any concerns of a suspected breach of quarantine to the St Helena Police.  

#StHelena #COVID-19 #HomeQuarantine

SHG
13 January 2021

St Helena previously embarked on an extensive recycling program, actively recycling glass, plastics and aluminium drink cans for the benefit of the environment.

Glass and aluminium drink cans (ADC) disposed of in the Olympic Bins (the side that reads ‘Altogether We Recycle’), located across the Island, are collected and delivered to the Public Recycling Facility at Horse Point Landfill Site (HPLS) for recycling.

Larger quantities of glass and ADC wastes can be recycled by disposing of in red wheelie bins for glass and blue wheelie bins for ADC. These wheelie bins are located at bars, community centres and other areas (as mini recycling hubs). The public can also dispose of these recyclable wastes directly into the Public Recycling Facility at HPLS (open 24/7).

The light grey wheelie bins, previously located for plastic waste, are being reclaimed by WMS and repurposed as loaned home quarantine bins as part of the COVID-19 prevent strategy. As such, these bins are temporarily unavailable for plastic recycling. Members of the public wishing to recycle their plastic should contact SHAPE directly on tel: 24143.

To maximise recycling efforts the public are requested not to contaminate Olympic Bins (recyclable side) or red/blue wheelie bins with non-recyclable wastes such as food containers. Contamination of recyclable waste creates a costly cleaning process before recycling that could otherwise be avoided through considerate disposal of non-recyclable wastes e.g. into the side of Olympic Bins that reads ‘Please Do Not Litter’ or disposed into brown wheelie bins with ‘Please Do Not Litter’ signs attached. Recycling bins persistently contaminated will be relocated.

The public are reminded that under Section 78(3) of the Environmental Protection Ordinance: ‘A person who wilfully or recklessly removes or otherwise interferes with a litter bin commits an offence’. The penalty is a fine of £1000.

Environmental Risk Manager, Mike Durnford, commented:

“Recycling is the optimum solution for St Helena to efficiently manage its waste. The more waste we recycle, the longer HPLS will last as landfilling is reduced. I encourage the public to recycle as much glass and ADC as possible when disposing of waste into either the Olympic Bins or the red and blue wheelie bins. Regrettably the content of overly contaminated recycling bins will be landfilled, which defeats the objective of recycling.”

Waste Management Services Supervisor, Anthony Henry, added:

“We would like to thank the Sandy Bay Community for proactively recycling glass and ADC in an efficient manner. The recycling bins located adjacent to the bus shelter in Sandy Bay are never contaminated, as such their content is collected weekly and delivered to HPLS for recycling. This is a good example of efficient use of recycling bins.”

  • Contaminated red wheelie bin for glass
  • Olympic Bin outside of the Canister

SHG

13 January 2021

FRIDAY, 15 JANUARY 2021

A formal meeting of Legislative Council will take place on Friday, 15 January 2021, at 10am in the Council Chamber. This is the first sitting of the twentieth meeting of Legislative Council and will be broadcast live via SAMS Radio 1. The meeting is also open to members of the public who wish to attend.

The Order Paper includes two Sessional Papers and four Questions for oral response. There is also one Motion relating to a consultative poll being held in February 2021 on the government system.

The meeting will conclude with the customary Adjournment Debate, giving each Elected Member the opportunity to raise various Island issues.

A copy of the Order Paper, as well as reports on the Governance Review, is available on the SHG Website at: https://www.sainthelena.gov.sh/st-helena/government/legislative-council/order-papers/

#StHelena #LegislativeCouncil #FormalLegCo #OrderPaper

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https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt

SHG
12 January 2021

The UK Government has agreed with St Helena Government the supply and delivery of 100 Oxford AstraZeneca (AZ) Vaccines on the repatriation flight arriving today, Monday 11 January 2021.

These initial vaccines will be rolled out on-Island to key health workers and frontline staff as agreed by the Incident Executive Group (IEG) on 31 December 2020. This is due to these workers being at the highest risk of potential infection of COVID-19.

This delivery of vaccines is the first stage of a national COVID-19 Vaccine Programme. The Health Directorate is developing the policy to underpin the roll-out of further AZ Vaccines that will be provided by the UK Government in the coming months.

Further information with regards to the vaccine and how it works, as well as the vaccination programme on-Island, will be communicated to the public in due course.

#StHelena #COVID-19 #AztraZenecaVaccine #KeyHealthWorkers

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt 

SHG
11 January 2021

During the two-week period of Monday, 21 December 2020, to Sunday, 3 January 2021, St Helena Police dealt with a total of 79 reports, resulting in one arrest.

One person was arrested for a Sexual Offence. They were interviewed and bailed to return to Police Headquarters pending further investigations.

Two reports of Theft were made and are being investigated.

Other reports included an allegation of harassment, alarm or distress, whereby one person was given a harassment warning, and a child missing from home, whereby the child was located and returned home.

Seven minor Road Traffic Collisions were reported and seven Road Traffic Offences were identified and dealt with.

Police received a number of reports of vehicles doing ‘doughnuts’ at the Jamestown Wharf. The public are advised that this is not an accepted cultural act. Drivers as well as pedestrians are put at risk when these acts are carried out. Those responsible are strongly advised to refrain from doing these dangerous acts. The area in question is defined as part of the highway.

Police also carried out community engagement in addition to engaging actively with the many festive events throughout the holiday period. Thanks goes to all the organisers for the events, which were managed well. Further thanks goes out to partnering agencies who supported the Police throughout the year.

St Helena Police would like to wish our community a Happy New Year.

Until next week – Stay Safe!

#StHelena #StHelenaPolice #PoliceReport #AltogetherSafer

SHG

8 January 2021

The public are advised that there has been a change in the rules for entry into England. All arriving passengers are now required to be tested for COVID-19 within 72 hours prior to departure. Further information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mandatory-covid-19-testing-introduced-to-bolster-border-measures.

Passengers departing St Helena on Wednesday, 13 January 2021, can attend the General Hospital at 8am on Monday, 11 January, to be swabbed. This might require a short period of waiting time, but health workers will endeavour to carry out each test as quickly as possible.

Test results will be available later in the day and passengers will be contacted via telephone with the results. The formal paperwork will be available upon check-in for the flight on Wednesday morning.

Given the short notice, no charges for testing will apply on this occasion, but this may change for future flights.

If you should have any queries, please contact Interim Director of Health, Janet Lawrence, on tel: 22998 or email: janet.lawrence@sainthelena.gov.sh

#StHelena #TestingBeforeDeparture

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt 

SHG
8 January 2021

The Health Directorate can now confirm that the two passengers who tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival to South Africa, on the MV Helena, have both returned a negative result following a re-test.

There is a high degree of confidence within the Health Directorate that the original test results on 31 December 2020 were false positives. A false positive is when someone who does not have coronavirus returns a positive result. This can happen in some cases and in such situations a second test is used to confirm or negate a false positive result.

The public are reassured that there are still no suspected cases of COVID-19 on St Helena and the processes put in place by SHG, including mandatory testing prior to departure and upon arrival to St Helena as well as 14 days of quarantine, ensures that the risk of community spread is kept extremely low.

#StHelena #COVID-19

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt 

SHG
8 January 2021

Following an open procurement exercise, conducted in December 2020, St Helena Government has entered into a contract with Clint Stevens, of Half Tree Hollow, for the construction of a wheelchair accessible public footpath in Lower Rupert’s.

This is the first part of a larger wheelchair accessible public footpath which, upon completion, will allow the public to access the beach area when the Rupert’s Container Handling Facility is in operation from April 2022.

This particular portion of the footpath will begin at the Wicked Wahoo bar and run adjacent to the existing Fisheries Building. Works are scheduled to commence on Monday, 11 January 2021, and be completed in mid-March 2021.

The project is being funded under the Economic Development Investment Programme (EDIP) as part of the Rupert’s Wharf Cargo Handling Facility.

Members of the public will be kept informed of progress on this project and are thanked for their understanding during this time.

#StHelena #EDIP #Rupert’sDevelopment

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt 

SHG
7 January 2021

An opportunity has arisen to allow passengers travelling on the Titan Airways flight, scheduled to depart St Helena on Wednesday, 13 January 2021, to disembark during the flights technical stop in Accra, Ghana, on route to the United Kingdom.

Any persons interested in taking advantage of this opportunity to disembark in Ghana are asked to contact Acting Airport Director, Paul Cherrett, on email: paul.cherrett@sainthelena.gov.sh.

Ghanaian authorities require a negative PCR test 72 hours prior to arrival as well as a mandatory test on arrival at the airport in Accra. PCR testing will be available for departing passengers on Monday, 11 January 2021.

Interested persons must present passport details and proof of the right of entry into Ghana by no later than 4pm on Friday, 8 January 2021.

#StHelena #TitanAirways #Ghana

https://www.facebook.com/StHelenaGovt /  
https://twitter.com/StHelenaGovt 

SHG
7 January 2021

The following is a public announcement from Port Control:

During the month of December 2020 certain members of the public vandalised a main water pipe at the side of the HM Customs and Port Control building. This is the third time in less than two months that this criminal act has taken place.

As a result of the vandalism and the broken pipe work, it is believed that a considerable amount of water poured from the damaged pipes for at least 24 hours.

On 26 December 2020 (Boxing Day) at approximately 5pm, individuals were identified by CCTV driving their vehicles in a very careless manner in the Jamestown Wharf area. The drivers were identified and reported to the Police.

The Ports Ordinance, 2016, states:

‘Any person who, without lawful authority, removes, tampers with, or otherwise interferes with any item of equipment, property, structure or part of a structure within the port area, or attempts to commit such an act, is guilty of an offence for which the maximum penalty on conviction is a fine of £2,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months, or both.’

The public is therefore reminded that that CCTV is in operation at the Jamestown Wharf and any future evidence of vandalism or careless driving on the Jamestown Wharf will be reported directly to the Police by Port Control, who can and will restrict access to any offenders to Jamestown Wharf.

SHG
6 January 2021