Chaudhry says there is widespread panic in the country as new COVID cases surge yet the Govt is ignoring the people’s call for a hard lockdown

The Leader of the Fiji Labour Party Mahendra Chaudhry says there is widespread panic in the country as new COVID cases surge yet the Government ignores the people’s call for a hard lockdown to contain the virus.

Chaudhry says a lockdown has worked in every country overseas to contain the virus but the Prime Minister is saying that the economy cannot afford another lockdown.

He says a leader must act responsibly and without endangering lives.

Chaudhry says people’s lives matter more than a failed economy.

He says economic revival will not be possible in an environment fraught with heavy risks to people’s lives and health.

Chaudhry says the nation is heading for a calamity of unimaginable proportions and yet government remains paranoid about reviving a failed economy, neglecting the escalating COVID situation as if people’s lives do not matter.

He says our health care facilities have been put under most severe stress and it is obvious that those in charge are at a loss on how to bring the situation under control.

Chaudhry says hospitals can no longer cope, make shift field hospitals are being set up to deal with critical COVID cases while the rest are being sent to isolation centres in schools, community halls or told to isolate at home with their families thus spreading the virus even more.

The Leader of FLP says home isolation is a wrong strategy as stated by the New Zealand Epidemiologist Professor Michael Baker who says that Fiji was going backwards in its fight against the pandemic.

Chaudhry says it was evident that the Fijian authorities were really beyond their limits in managing this outbreak.

He has also questioned how reliable are the case figures supplied by the Health Ministry on a daily basis if people in home isolation are not being monitored and how do they know exactly how many cases have recovered, how many are in critical condition and how many have died.

Chaudhry says it is clear that Health authorities are completely overwhelmed as they have neither the manpower nor the resources to monitor cases in home isolation.

He says in such a situation, the death toll is going to mount for lack of attention and care.