The Head of Health Protection at the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, Dr. Alisha Sahukhan says the COVID-19 patient is a 27-year-old flight attendant of Fiji Airways who had a recent travel history to the USA and New Zealand.
Dr. Sahukhan says the flight attendant presented at Lautoka Hospital on Tuesday evening displaying respiratory symptoms at which point he was immediately isolated by the staff into a dedicated isolation ward.
Dr. Sahukhan says the patient remains isolated and is in a stable condition.
She says they received the test results this morning.
Dr. Sahukhan it is important to note that this is an imported case of the virus and is not a locally transmitted case.
She says based on the patients travel history and when his symptoms started, they believe that he got COVID-19 in the USA.
Dr. Sahukhan says they are focused on the patient’s movement since Monday as that is when the period started when he could spread the disease to others.
She says based on this information, they are now contacting passengers and crew who may have been exposed on Fiji Airways flights that he was working on.
These flights are FJ871 from San Francisco to Nadi which arrived in Nadi on Monday, FJ411 from Nadi to Auckland and the return flight FJ410 from Auckland to Nadi, both on Tuesday.
She says they are working closely with Fiji Airways to contact the passengers and crew.
If you had travelled on these flights then please contact:
In the Central Division call 2219905; In the Eastern Division call 2219906; In the Western Division call 2219907; and In the Northern Division call 2219908.
