The COVID-19 pandemic in the Solomon Islands is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of

coronavirus disease 2019 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include f ...

() caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have reached the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...

on 3 October 2020.

Background

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by ...

that caused a respiratory illness was identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019, and was reported to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO) on 31 December 2019, which confirmed its concern on 12 January 2020. WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January, and a pandemic on 11 March. The

case fatality rate In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people who have been diagnosed with a certain disease and end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does ...

of COVID-19 is much lower than that of

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...

, a related disease which emerged in 2002, but its

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

has been significantly greater, leading to a much greater total death toll.

Timeline

On 27 March Prime Minister

Manasseh Sogavare Manasseh Damukana Sogavare (born 17 January 1955) is a Solomon Islander politician serving as Minister of Finance since 2024. He served as the prime minister of Solomon Islands for a total of nine years from 2000–2001, 2006–2007, 2014–2017 ...

suspended all flights into the country, and declared a precautionary state of emergency in

Honiara Honiara () is the capital and largest city of Solomon Islands, situated on the northwestern coast of Guadalcanal. , it had a population of 92,344 people. The city is served by Honiara International Airport and the seaport of Point Cruz, and lies ...

, by which most entertainment venues would be closed (churches are exempt from the order). On 3 April 2020, the government stepped up checks on incoming visitors, and introduced restrictions on visitors who have visited countries deemed high risk. On 31 March, Franco Rodie, the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, ordered the closure of all schools in Solomon Islands. On 5 April, the Queen of Solomon Islands addressed the Commonwealth in a televised broadcast, in which she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return". She added, "we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again". On 3 October 2020, it was announced that COVID-19 has reached

. On that date, Prime Minister

announced that a student repatriated from the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

tested positive for COVID-19 after the patient was tested upon his arrival in Solomon Islands capital, Honiara. The patient is asymptomatic, and tested negative for the disease prior to his repatriation. The student was among 400 Solomon Islanders stranded in the Philippines whom the Solomon Islands government plan to repatriate. Eighteen others tested positive for the disease in the Philippines while awaiting repatriation. Two more cases were confirmed on 11 and 15 October 2020. Both individuals involved in the case are in the same flight as the first case, are students, and asymptomatic. Four more cases were confirmed on 27 October 2020. The four were soccer players based in the UK. On November 3, five cases were confirmed. The four are local footballers and one a Korean national. On November 9, 2020, 3 more cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

were confirmed, bringing the total to 16 cases. One of them belongs to the original group from the

and the other two are footballers who returned from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

; in addition, a fifth recovered was confirmed. On November 24, one more case of

is confirmed, bringing the total to 17 cases. On December 4, the results of the

test came back negative for 3 foreigners who are currently detained with their two yachts for alleged illegal entry to the borders of the territory. On February 8, 2021, one more case of

is confirmed, bringing the total to 18 cases.

Statistics

Cases by province

New cases per day

References

{{COVID-19 pandemic