Covid 19 coronavirus: Second case confirmed in Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare.

A second case of Covid-19 has been confirmed in Solomon Islands.

The first case, confirmed just last week, was a student who had recently been repatriated from the Philippines.

Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare announced on Sunday that the latest positive case was also a student on the same flight.

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The positive result came from a routine second round of testing and the student has since been moved into isolation at the National Referral Hospital.

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Sogavare said as a result of the second positive test other planned repatriation flights from the Philippines were being suspended.

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However, he said health officials advised that the virus was still being contained in quarantine.

"So my fellow citizens my message to you all today is the risk of community spread of this virus is still low and therefore we will not implement an immediate general lockdown," he said.

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Sogavare apologised to students still stranded in the Philippines, promising that the government was still committed to bringing them home as soon as possible.