MAJURO — The number of deaths from Covid in the Marshall Islands has increased to nine as of Wednesday and Health authorities anticipate the next several weeks will see more due to the lag time between Covid exposure and serious illness.
But the first five Covid-related deaths astounded authorities because all were dead on arrival at Majuro and Ebeye hospitals. It prompted Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal to launch a concerted campaign to encourage people with serious illness to come to the emergency rooms for treatment.
The Marshall Islands had seen five Covid-related deaths through Monday — four in Majuro and one in Ebeye. Not a single one of the first five people who died came into the hospital for treatment — and this despite the fact that Majuro and Ebeye hospitals have specialized facilities for treating Covid-related illnesses and staff prepared for emergency needs.
Niedenthal responded by going on multiple online platforms to urge people who are feeling sick to come into the hospital emergency rooms to get medical attention, and don’t leave it until it is too late.
“Please,” he said Wednesday, “if you or one of your loved ones are feeling very sick, don’t hesitate. At a minimum go to the ER and get evaluated by one of our doctors.”
Health officials said the family of one of the DOAs called an ambulance in the morning. But when the ambulance arrived at the local residence, the man refused the ambulance service, saying he wanted to stay at home. Later in the day, he died, reported the Ministry of Health and Human Services.
A number of these early deaths are by people who had “underlying conditions,” meaning they had other health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure. “This kind of death during a Covid outbreak is common,” said Niedenthal of deaths among people with underlying health conditions. “These are people who are already very weak. Then the virus pushes them over the edge and unfortunately they lose their lives.”
He noted that Majuro hospital has had seriously ill Covid patients under treatment in the ICU ward and they are doing everything they can to keep them alive.
The age range for the first five deaths is 23 to 69. All four on Majuro were men and the first death on Ebeye, Monday this week, was a 57-year-old woman.
By Wednesday, the ministry announced the death toll had risen to nine, with seven of these in Majuro and two on Ebeye, the second large urban center in the country.
The ministry reported that, nationwide, there were 6,606 confirmed positive cases. This is over 15 percent of the estimated population of 42,000.
Earlier this year, the US Centers for Disease Control projected the possibility that 28 people would die in the first Covid wave. The CDC projection was part of a briefing to prepare RMI authorities for managing Covid when it arrived.
The latest Covid update issued Thursday morning confirms spread to four remote outer islands where health services are rudimentary. Medical teams are being dispatched to each of these islands and others where spread is suspected, said Niedenthal Thursday.
A medical surge support team, led by number doctors from the US CDC, as well as others from Taiwan, WHO and UNICEF, arrived in the Marshall Islands Tuesday to support efforts to manage the Covid outbreak. The CDC is also providing thousands of doses of PaxLovid and other therapeutic drugs, while the Federated States of Micronesia and American Samoa governments quickly dispatched large quantities of PaxLovid to Majuro the past several days to boost stocks on hand.
Dr. Frank Underwood, the director of public health, said Monday that over 1,800 people were using PaxLovid, which is good news for mitigating serious illness.
Niedenthal has repeatedly urged people to get help if they are feeling sick in response to the initial five people who arrived DOA at local hospital.
“We cannot help you if you do not come into the Emergency Room at our hospitals if you have severe symptoms,” Niedenthal said. “Both Majuro and Ebeye have state-of-the-art Covid-19 Isolation Wards. They are new, built in the first year of the pandemic. All of our doctors working the ER and the Covid-19 isolation wards have been training for two years to deal with urgent Covid-19 cases. We have equipment and medicines that can save the lives of your loved ones. We have doctors standing by there.”
Meanwhile, the ministry has continued to roll out additional community “test to treat” facilities where local residents can get Covid services in their neighborhoods.
The Marshall Islands Ministry of Health and Human Services set up mobile Covid teams that have been active providing house-to-house services to people with Covid symptoms.
This delivery of PaxLovid, the therapeutic drug for treating Covid, arrived Tuesday in Majuro from American Samoa, which joined the Federated States of Micronesia in helping the Marshall Islands meet the demand for these drugs for Covid patients.
