Chaudhry urges government to impose a lockdown

The Fiji Labour Party says they urge the government to bite the bullet and impose a lockdown so that people can get on with their lives as soon as possible.

Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry says government should come out with a firm decision on whether to impose another lockdown in the containment areas.

Chaudhry further says with new cases emerging virtually everyday, it has become clear that the virus is spreading fast and only a more measured and practical lockdown will ensure that the virus is contained.

He says for several weeks now people have been locked in containment areas but this has not stopped the spread of the virus adding the nation cannot continue with a situation where businesses and industries remain closed indefinitely.

However Chaudhry says the lockdown must not be the curfew-like lockdown that was imposed two weekends ago.

He says we should take our cue from the manner in which lockdowns were imposed in Australia and New Zealand which went through a lockdown period of 14 weeks during the case of a severe pandemic.

Chaudhry highlighted that people should be allowed out for an hour or so a day only to buy food and access other essentials, go to the pharmacies or the doctors as the case may be and this should be rigidly controlled with the enforcement of rules which clearly spell out the restrictions and the penalties that will apply for the breach.

He adds time should also be allowed for daily exercises.

He says this way families that can afford to buy food will be able to do so without becoming a burden on the State and government can then provide food for those who lack the means to purchase it.

Chaudhry has also questioned why non-containment areas like Ba, Tavua and Sigatoka are currently subjected to lockdown conditions adding they should be allowed to operate as normal with little disruption to their lives, but with tightly controlled borders.

Meanwhile, the Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong has said that based on the worrying rise of clusters and cases of COVID-19, he has been working with other permanent secretaries as well as the private sector on scenario-planning based on the results of continuous testing that includes the possibility of a full lockdown of Viti Levu.

Doctor Fong also assures the public that if they take the lockdown route, people will be given ample notice, not within hours, but in days to prepare and for government to allocate resources appropriately.

He says for the lockdown to be decisive, it must be well-planned and prolonged enough to last for the entire incubation period.