 My name is Dr Sonni McCarthy. I'm a public health physician working at the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security. The impact of COVID-19 in Solomon Islands would be significant. The extended family style of living in Solomon Islands, which is common in other countries in the Pacific, brings many benefits, but also presents some challenges in terms of effectively containing the spread of disease. Solomon Islands government were very committed to ensuring that Solomon Islanders were protected from the potential spread of COVID-19 in country and they reached out to Australia for help early on and Australia responded. My colleagues and I worked very closely to support Solomon Islands with preparing and planning for COVID-19. With Australia's support, as of last week Solomon Islands is now able to test for COVID-19 in country with a QPCR machine and upgrades to the laboratory there. The ability to test for COVID-19 in Solomon Islands is significant because this means they are able to get a result very quickly and as such put measures into place to stop the spread of disease. Working side by side with partners in Solomon Islands was a fantastic experience. Under the leadership of the Permanent Secretary for Health, Pauline McNeil, I worked with the National Health Emergency Operations Committee as well as other key development partners in country such as WHO and UNICEF. The highlight of my time in Solomon Islands was when the Cabinet of Solomon Islands endorsed the Ministry of Health's operational plan for COVID-19 to fund activities such as testing for COVID-19 in Solomon Islands as well as develop quarantine facilities. With an operational plan for COVID-19 in place and the ability to now test for COVID-19 in country, Solomon Islands can look to the future with more confidence and be reassured that they have measures in place to resume commercial flights into country as well as moving towards economic recovery.