From October 4th, all workplaces, tertiary institutions, houses of worship, hotels, restaurants, cafés, cinemas, gyms, pools, tattoo parlours will be able to open at 70% capacity, but only to fully vaccinated persons.
Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama says as part of the Vaccination Authentication Exercise, they will be rolling out a VAX-Check tool that allows for real-time digital verification of vaccine status that venues can use to confirm the vaccine status of their patrons.
He says when the doors of these venues open, all other COVID-safe measures must be strictly enforced.
The Prime Minister says this means masks must be worn, two metres of physical distance should be maintained where possible, and careFIJI must be installed on everyone’s phones, with Bluetooth switched on.
Bainimarama says these relaxations are not for anyone to tread carelessly.
He says they are introducing new regulations that allow for spot checks on venues, businesses and houses of worship.
Those who do not respect these measures risk serious fines or being shut down.
The Prime Minister stresses that we must wield these new freedoms responsibly as our journey to the new normal is a marathon, not a sprint.
Bainimarama says this war is not over and the defence is to continue to test, trace, and isolate COVID-19 positive patients.
He advises that if you are feeling unwell, please stay home, and please continue to keep a careful eye on those most vulnerable, the elderly and those with underlying health conditions.
The Prime Minister says community leaders should continue to keep careful track of who exits and enters their communities, employers should continue to enforce COVID-safe practices for their staff and their customers and leaders in houses of worship should be sure their devotees are adherent to COVID-safe practices as well.
He has also revealed that they will soon publish the vaccination rates of all areas along the King’s and Queen’s highways and other major routes so that travellers know which areas are safest to stop to take a rest, fill in fuel, buy vegetables, coconuts to drink or hot corn or BBQ to eat.
Bainimarama says everyone should read that list carefully before getting in the car and heading anywhere.
Please avoid areas with lower vaccination coverage.
If you are an unvaccinated Fijian living in an area with low vaccine coverage, do not wait another day to get the jab.
If you are only partially vaccinated, please maintain strict adherence to every COVID-safe measure and make sure to get your second jab.
The Prime Minister also confirms at the 70% threshold, the curfew hours for Viti Levu will move from 10pm to 4am.
At the 80% threshold, the curfew will be from 11pm to 4am, they expect that all businesses will fully re-open to fully vaccinated Fijians, all sports including team sports can be played again, and stadiums can re-open.
Bainimarama says their goal is to free our country and our economy from the rut of the pandemic.
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