Fiji has confirmed two new cases of COVID-19.
The Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says they have confirmed these new cases through their testing at other facilities throughout Fiji.
Doctor Fong says both of these cases are tied to existing clusters.
He says the first case is a close contact from the most recent Makoi cluster and the second is a close contact from the cluster in Nadali, Nausori.
Doctor Fong says the Makoi case has been in an isolation facility since May 10th.
He says the Nadali case has been entered into isolation and contact tracing for both individuals is underway.
The Fiji Centre for Disease Control has been fully decontaminated and has resumed processing COVID-19 tests from last night.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Dr. James Fong says all remaining staff have continued to test negative for COVID-19.
Three staff at the Fiji Centre for Disease Control had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week.
He says none of the laboratory staff have tested positive to date, which further indicates that the virus was brought in from the community.
He says after being given the choice to either enter a quarantine facility or continue work at the CDC, the vast majority of staff have chosen to remain in the facility and continue running tests.
Dr. Fong says they will continue to be tested regularly during their isolation period so that any positive case can be identified and isolated early.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong has thanked everyone within the Suva Nausori lockdown zone for staying home this weekend.
Dr. Fong says your time at home is being used efficiently by his teams to identify and isolate positive COVID-19 patients and they appreciate your support and cooperation.
He says the Ministry’s contact tracing teams are using the lockdown period as a window of opportunity to trace and test primary and secondary contacts of existing cases within Suva and Nausori.
Fong says the nature and the number of cases that they confirm through the lockdown period will inform their next steps.
The lockdown of Suva and Nausori will come to an end on Wednesday, 19th May at 4am.
The Permanent Secretary says travel for medical emergencies is permitted and only essential service providers with explicit authorisation from the government may operate.
For the rest of Viti Levu, the 6pm to 4am curfew has come into effect from last night.
Doctor Fong is urging the public to stay home and stay safe.
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