‘People are dying on the floor’: healthcare workers tell of Covid devastation in Solomon Islands

The Pacific country was coronavirus-free until last month but an outbreak of thousands of cases is overwhelming the health system

Frontline health workers in Solomon Islands have warned that its health system is on the brink of collapse as the country struggles to deal with a devastating outbreak of Covid-19.

A senior doctor and two nurses at the National Referral Hospital (NRH) in the capital of Honiara have told of how there are no beds for Covid patients - leading to people dying on the floor of the wards - as well as a lack of facilities and staff shortages that have led to Covid-positive nurses being recalled to work and probationary nurses tending to critically ill patients solo, when they should be supervised by a more senior nurse.