03 April 2020
COVID-19 Public Update
KEY POINTS
First case of COVID-19 announced:
87 negative results have been received from the UK but unfortunately today, we have received one positive test.
An inpatient in the hospital who is in isolation has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus.
The patient was admitted from the Mount Pleasant Complex on 31 March as they became unwell and medical staff observed a range of COVID-19 like symptoms.
They have been cared for with all necessary isolation precautions and continues to be so.
The patient, who is not on a ventilator, is in a stable condition and being carefully looked after by the hospital staff.
Chief Medical Officer Dr Rebecca Edwards said: "We knew the day would come when we would have our first confirmed case, and in some respects we are fortunate that we have been COVID-19 free until now, as we have taken this time to plan our approach within the hospital and also from a wider perspective.”
“We have reorganised the hospital and staffing arrangements, and put our supplies and pharmaceuticals in place, which many countries were not in a position to do before they identified their first cases.”
“Members of the public will be concerned about this development; however, the KEMH has been undertaking strict isolation procedures for patients with infection to ensure that any risk of cross infection, from patients to staff, or patient to patient is negligible. We are working with BFSAI on tracing people who may have come into contact with the individual; this is an effective way to identify people who may have been in contact, so suitable next steps can be taken.”
Dr Edwards thanked members of the community for how well they had responded to the Government’s wider COVID-19 response.
“I ask that they continue with existing arrangements for working from home, if you have been advised to do so, self-isolation when advised to do so by KEMH staff and carry on with regular hand washing and social distancing.in line with all the guidance that has been continuously provided.”
Of another 129 samples taken to date, 87 negative results have been received from the UK along with one positive result.
Results for the 41 other samples are awaited.
Samples will continue to be taken and sent to the UK on the regular Airbridge flights.
Search for missing crew member:
A crew member has been reported overboard from the jigger Sky Max 101.
The incident was reported at 10 minutes past midnight this morning to South Korean authorities in the first instance. The vessel was operating approximately 122 nautical miles north of Stanley.
The FIG Department of Natural Resources was alerted at 10.20am. It has requested vessels nearby to assist with the search.
The Fishery Protection Vessel Protegat was immediately deployed to the area, with an ETA of midnight tonight.
Protegat will search for 24 to 48 hours.
New arrivals must self-isolate:
The Airbridge due to arrive this evening at MPA at 2120hrs is carrying a number of returning students and other passengers.
For ALL travellers arriving it is vitally important to isolate yourselves for 14 days.
This is essential for our community that you do this and we are grateful to those passengers who arrived in the islands on Friday 27 March, who have already been in isolation for one week.
Should passengers not isolate themselves for 14 days after arriving in the islands we would have to consider enforcing stricter regulations.
Please also note that any household where an arriving person or persons is staying must ensure that the new arrival self-isolates for 14 days. If the new arrival is not able to isolate from other members of the household, the whole household MUST self-isolate for 14 days.
Bus transport arrangements have been put in place by the Falkland Islands Government for ALL returning residents.
Those who have pre-arranged Approved Transport will travel with their original provider. All others will travel on additional Approved Transport and be brought from MPA to Stanley.
Family and friends should not travel to MPA to collect any passengers arriving on this flight unless you are travelling directly to Camp.
The Education Department has been contacting parents of any arriving students to discuss their arrangements. If you have not been contacted, please phone the department on 27289.
The Department has been liaising closely with parents around the self-isolation requirements and will continuing contact with families should they have issues, such as accommodation, that need support.
Airbridge Northbound:
British Forces South Atlantic Islands advises that the next Northbound flight TOW2233 is scheduled to leave MPA on Sunday 5 April 2020 at 0330hrs local.
Check-in times for TOW2233 are as follows:
4 Apr Phase 1: 1900 - 2000 hrs local
Phase 2: 2300 - 2359 hrs local
Board Through: 2300 - 2359 hrs local
ETA - RAF Brize Norton: Monday 6 Apr 20 at 0150 hrs (UK local).
Airbridge schedule in April:
The FIGO office in London is delighted to announce, that until further notice, there will be a new fortnightly rotation for civilian passenger Southbound flights. The rotation is as follows:
SAA1: FIG passengers (3 April)
SAA2: Freight (7 April)
SAA3: BFSAI paseengers (10 April)
SAA4: Freight (14 April)
Therefore, the next Southbound civilian passenger flight will be 17 April.
Northbound civilian passengers can be booked on each Northbound flight as normal, but please note that numbers will be restricted and journeys should only be made if they are essential.
LATAM flights update:
The Santiago flight route has been suspended until 2nd May, 2020.
The Sao Paolo flight route it is suspended until 23rd April, and the situation will be reviewed nearer the time as to a possible extension of that suspension.
Support Package applications open:
Applications can now be made for the Falkland Islands Government’s support package that was announced on 25 March 2020 for private sector employers with employees, as well as the self-employed who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government is doing this to reinforce and support the strong public health action which the Falkland Islands Government is taking to protect the population and minimise the social and economic impact of this challenging issue.
How to apply --
Application forms along with other guidance are available through:
Falkland Islands Government -
Falkland Islands Development Corporation
www.fidc.co.fk/library/covid-19
If you need assistance filling out the forms, contact Sian Davies, Business Development Officer, at FIDC telephone 51211.
EDUCATION
Undertaken by Mr Mike Gershon, who last visited the schools and carried out a review in March 2019.
The report is clear that both of the schools now offer a very good standard of education for their students. In the primary school the quality of educational provision remains excellent. The report highlights the rapid, positive progress that the secondary school has made in the last 12 months with by securing better teaching; raising aspirations for students and staff, and developing focused leadership and management at all levels.
On 3 April 2020 the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) published the details of how they intend to award GCSE grades. Their advice applies to the Science, Mathematics, Spanish, History, Food and Nutrition, Technology and Textiles courses taught at FICS. iGCSES (Geography, Music, PE and Computing) and the Health and Social Care are being dealt with separately, and the Education Department expect to receive guidance on this process in due course.
Over the next couple of months, FICS staff will be determining and submitting a teacher assessed grade for each of the subjects that our students were due to complete this year. This will involve looking at all that we know about our students in order to reach a fair and very carefully considered judgement. The objective professional judgement will involve a thorough scrutiny of the full range of evidence we have, which has been gathered over the two years of a course. For any students with access arrangements, these will be taken into consideration as part of the process. Teachers will not do this is isolation and the process will be moderated at each stage.
Once the grades have been submitted to the awarding bodies, they will undergo a process of statistical moderation to ensure that awarding is consistent across all centres. The current intention is that examination boards will issue final results slightly earlier in the year than is usual, but there is no final date for this at present.
Join our Volunteers:
Nearly 40 people have signed up for the Community Volunteers programme. The Co-ordinator is Vicky Collier. If you want to help, are in self-isolation or know someone who is that may need support contact Vicky on
You can see further details of how to help lower down in this Update.
- Advice around the Falkland Islands Government’s COVID-19 response can change. Please watch out for further statements from the Government in local media and through the FIG and Community Facebook pages, the web page www.fig.gov.fk/covid-19 and other channels.