The Ministry of Health and Medical Services is sending a team of 20 healthcare and allied healthcare workers to Yanuca and Beqa Island this morning for 3 days.
A total of 37 positive cases have now been identified in Dakuni village on Beqa island, while 11 more cases have been diagnosed in Dakuibeqa village in the last 24 hours.
This brings the total number of cases on the island to 48.
Three positive cases have been transferred to CWM Hospital including a 70 year old patient with severe COVID-19 disease.
Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the team is planned to conduct mass swabbing of the 10 villages, conduct assessments of individuals considered high risk and vulnerable and conduct awareness of COVID-19 in these communities.
He says they are truly thankful to the village elders and leaders who have helped in their quest to contain or mitigate the outbreak in the affected maritime islands.
Doctor Fong has repeated their call to the maritime islanders; please do not engage in unauthorized travel to and from Viti Levu.
He stresses that all their current protocols to regulate domestic movements have been working in removing the risk of viral leakage into your communities.
The Permanent Secretary says for those islands yet to be affected, they repeat the call to all village leaders and elders to support our current efforts to protect our maritime islands by immediately reporting any suspicious movements into your community and having in place quarantine/isolation measures to deal with all travellers into their respective community.
He is also appealing for community support for vaccination.
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