The Prime Minister has today confirmed that the quarantine period for COVID-19 patient contacts and the people returning from overseas will now be 28 days.
Voreqe Bainimarama says this follows the confirmation of the 17th case of COVID-19 in Fiji who is a relative and travelling companion of the 54 year old Soasoa man.
They both travelled together from India to Singapore and on to Fiji.
Bainimarama says since the 21 year old man’s return to Fiji, he has not shown a single symptom of the virus. Upon returning to the country from overseas, this man was in self-quarantine for two full weeks, up until the 5th of April.
He says free of any symptoms throughout the virus’s known two-week incubation period, by all appearances, he was in the clear.
The Prime Minister says from this week, they have widened the testing to all close contacts of all confirmed cases, regardless of whether they are displaying symptoms.
He says that is how they identified, tested and confirmed this man as the 17th case.
The 21 year old man was immediately entered into isolation upon testing positive today where he is in stable condition.
His close contacts have been entered into separate isolation facilities. The contact tracing stemming from this latest case has revealed the need for additional lockdowns on Vanua Levu.
The Vunicagi Settlement between Nabouwalu and Labasa will be locked down for the next 28 days.
The settlement lies along a short stretch of vital highway which vehicles will still be allowed to traverse under 24/7 police monitoring, as no alternate routes into Labasa exist.
However, no passengers will be allowed to disembark or embark: No one in and no one out. Bainimarama says the lockdown of the Soasoa settlement will be extended by another 14 days, in line with the 28-day quarantine policy.
Given the continued risk of transmission on Vanua Levu, the ban on inter-island travel by air and sea will remain in effect.
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