15 August 2022FINAL IOT COVID-19 SUBCOMMITTEE UPDATEWith the end of the State of Emergency for Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 13 August, we have moved into a new stage of living with COVID in the Indian Ocean Territories. This will be the final update from the IOT COVID-19 subcommittee. The state of emergency has been in place since March 2020, supported by a range of measures including the travel application process. It was a significant achievement to keep the IOT COVID-free until early 2022. During the past two and a half years until the end of the travel application process on 1 August, there have been almost 50,000 travel applications decided. This reflects an enormous amount of work to assess and assist those entering the IOT. We had an excellent response across CI and CKI for the COVID-19 vaccination program, and thank every resident who has rolled up their sleeve to get vaccinated and to keep boosted. The more than 95 percent of our population who had their initial doses and the 80 per cent plus who went on to get boosted have played a significant role in protecting themselves and each other. The IOT health service has done an excellent job of preparing for COVID response and management and - in recent months - responding to the active community transmission that finally reached our islands. Sincere thanks to IOTHS and all of the health workers for their tireless efforts to support the communities’ health and wellbeing in not only the COVID response but also more broadly. Chair of the IOT COVID-19 subcommittee and Administrator Natasha Griggs thanks all members of the subcommittee which includes the Territory Controllers for their hard work and careful considerations since early 2020, continually making the difficult decisions to mitigate the risks for our remote and vulnerable communities. The Emergency Management Committees of CI and CKI are also thanked for their support for the measures and responses to manage COVID risks. We have successfully managed the COVID response to this stage because of the contributions each resident, business and visitor have made to follow the rules and undertake COVID safe practices. As we now transition from emergency management to a public health response, future updates and communications will come from the health service and through standard IOT communications channels. As we move forward, please continue to do your part and maintain a safe distance from others, practise good hand hygiene, wear a mask in public places, cover your coughs and sneezes, stay home if sick and get tested. |