UN boost to Samoa’s COVID-19 response

For the first time, the kits and machinery will allow healthcare providers to test for COVID-19 in-country – with results available in just 45 minutes. Previously, there was no testing capacity in Samoa, with specimens having to be sent to labs in New Zealand or Australia. This often caused significant delays for those waiting on results – especially as most international flights were cancelled.

Testing will play an important part of government plans to respond to the virus and keep it off our shores.”

“Up till now, the absence of any testing capability has left countries in the Pacific - including Samoa - with no option but to totally close their borders in order to avoid virus spread and loss of lives,” says Simona Marinescu, UN Resident Coordinator in Samoa. “Human security was what the Pacific chose to prioritize at the expense of economic growth and fiscal sustainability. Now that the testing capacity is in place, addressing the socio-economic impact is what should follow and it must involve all development partners.”

Samoa, along with other Pacific Island nations, has so far been largely successful in containing the spread of COVID-19. However, officials have warned that there could be a spike in infections once travel resumes and countries end their lockdowns. The UN in Samoa, led by the World Health Organization, has been helping the government to prepare for this eventuality by boosting capacity in the health sector, raising public awareness about hygiene and disease prevention, procuring essential protective equipment and developing crisis plans for a possible humanitarian emergency. The new lab equipment is a critical component of these efforts.    

“We are working with the government to make sure that when borders open up and flights resume in the future, incoming passengers can be quickly and reliably screened after the appropriate quarantine period,” says Dr. Rasul Baghirov, Head of the World Health Organization in Samoa. “And the risk of an outbreak reduced to the lowest possible level.”

So far, Samoa has tested more than 30 people for COVID-19 since the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern” in late January. These tests were all carried out in overseas labs, however the new equipment will allow for testing in Samoa.

The GeneXpert testing equipment received by Samoa is part of a larger batch that has been donated to several countries across the Pacific. It detects the DNA of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The equipment was procured by the World Health Organization with a grant of more than US$ 1.25 million from the Australian and New Zealand governments, the Pacific Community, the Pacific Island Health Officers’ Association and UNICEF.