The nurses hall within the Tupua Tamasese Meaole National Hospital compound at Motootua has been converted into a temporary ward to cater for the increasing number of measles patients. 

Samoa Nursing Association President and head nurse, Solialofi Papali'i, told the Samoa Observer that the New Zealand government is assisting them with the project.

Due to the shortage of space at the national hospital triggered by the increasing number of patient admissions, she said the hall will be converted into a temporary ward for the sick.

“We should do something as what we’ve already proposed and delivered to the management, which is to divide other patients down here to be treated.”

Mrs Papali'i said they needed the hall to address the hospital’s capacity issues and they can now turned their attention to their core duty of saving lives.

 “With the risk Samoa is in today, we’re prioritizing our people first,” she added. 

There are currently 390 registered nurses working in the hospitals around Samoa, including the retired nurses who were recalled, and 120 graduate nurses from the nursing school’s diploma and degree programmes.

The death toll from the measles epidemic currently sits at 55 with two fatalities in the last 24 hours. The Ministry of Health has confirmed that a total of 3,881 measles cases have been reported to the Ministry’s Disease Surveillance Team since the outbreak was declared in October.