Fiji has a new locally transmitted case of COVID-19 which means we now have 20 active cases in isolation
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the patient is the 14 year old daughter of the hotel staff who has been the central focus of the Health Ministry’s contact tracing.
Doctor Fong says the daughter did travel with her mum to the funeral at Tavakubu on April 16th and 17th however she had no symptoms and tested negative when entered into quarantine on Sunday April 18th.
She has tested positive on day 4 of quarantine.
Doctor Fong says this indicates that she was entered into quarantine before she became infectious.
He explains that they know that this virus has an incubation period of up to 14 days. So a person may take up to 14 days to have enough virus in their bodies to develop symptoms, or trigger a positive test result.
He says the level of virus that becomes detectable on a test also relates to how infectious that person is at the time.
Doctor Fong says if someone has no symptoms and tests negative in the community, it is very unlikely that they were infectious, even if they later test positive during the 14-day quarantine period.
We now have 6 locally transmitted cases that can all be traced back to the soldier who caught the virus while working in a border quarantine facility.
The Permanent Secretary says 3 of these latest local cases were not infectious while they were in the community.
He says they know this because they had no symptoms at the time, and were negative on their first test when they entered quarantine. It was only on their second test in quarantine that they tested positive.
Apart from the 6 locally transmitted cases we have 14 from border quarantine.
More than 800 tests were conducted over the last 24 hours.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the nationwide curfew between 11pm and 4am remains however they are asking for restricted movement outside of the curfew hours from 7pm Saturday until 11pm tonight
During this window of restricted movement, businesses such as supermarkets and pharmacies may open at the discretion of their management. Public transportation may run, with mask-wearing enforced.
Doctor Fong says no other workplaces should open.
Apart from shopping for food or medicine, or travelling for a medical emergency, there are no other reasons to leave your home.
If you are out and about without an essential reason, the police will ask you to go back to where you reside.
Doctor Fong says if these protocols are not followed, he will have to recommend lockdown measures for entire towns and cities.
He says everyone should stay in their homes and only spend time with members of their household.
Doctor Fong says it’s important that you do this, because the Health Ministry teams are going to use that window to conduct health screenings in targeted regions throughout Viti Levu.
Health officials will also be checking Fijians for COVID-like symptoms and making sure they have not had contact with someone who was contagious for the virus.
He says there are still too many unknowns to determine how long the rest of the health restrictions will remain in place.
More tests must be run, more time must be given to confirm that the virus is not lurking in some communities. If the numbers point to a wider outbreak, the ministry won’t hesitate to escalate their response.
The Permanent Secretary is also urging businesses to close up shop well before 7pm tonight so that staff and customers have time to head home.
If you are heading home using public transportation, wear a mask, and wear it properly.
He says their teams across Viti Levu have seen a notable increase in mask-wearing among members of the public.
Doctor Fong says that is great news and it means a great deal to them at the ministry to see so many Fijians share their mission to keep Fiji safe.
He also says if you are alone in your personal vehicle, or with other members of your household, you do not need to wear a mask. But when you exit the vehicle, please place one on.
Meanwhile Doctor Fong says he was a bit disturbed by a couple of tweets that went out from a reporter who freelancers for a number of media organisations outside of Fiji.
He says yesterday the reporter posted an incorrect tweet saying Fiji would be under a nationwide curfew starting tonight.
Doctor Fong says that was wrong.
He says they asked her to remove that tweet and thankfully, she did.
An apology tweet was posted however stating that the police would arrest people who were out without an essential reason was also misleading.
Doctor Fong says during the window of restricted movement, the Fiji Police will be asking people to stay home. That is where they want you, at home.
He says we have had a few instances of rule-breaking.
After they established Moturiki Island as a screening zone, a man was picked up on Ovalau after he swam across the channel.
Doctor Fong says the man is with the Police now, and he won’t be swimming anywhere for the next 14 days until he is cleared from the screening zone.
He says that he knows that may be funny to some people, but it is a real problem for the health officials.
The Permanent Secretary for Health has thanked a number of business houses coming forward to assist the Health Ministry in it’s fight against COVID-19.
Doctor James Fong says he was sent some awesome photos of food items donated by Billy Singh of Kundan Singh Supermarket today. This was being delivered to the families within the screening zone at Wainitarawau Settlement in Cunningham.
Doctor Fong says hotels like the Tanoa and the Crow’s Nest have also supported the surgical teams working in Sigatoka and Rakiraki.
The Holiday Inn has helped provide meals and catering to our health officials.
He also thanked Women in Business and the Fiji Chamber of Commerce and Industry for reaching out to their members, and to other businesses, to adhere to the health protocols.
Doctor Fong also made special mention of Tanoa Hotel.
He says they have been with them from the very beginning and have supported them in many different ways.
He hopes to see other business organisations step-up and do the same.
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