Delay the opening of the borders by 3 weeks - Rabuka

People’s Alliance Leader, Sitiveni Rabuka says in light of the World Health Organisation declaring the new COVID variant Omicron a concern and with several countries, including our neighbour Australia, banning or restricting travel to and from southern Africa, the Fijian Government should delay the opening of its international borders by 3 weeks.

Rabuka says that concerned scientists in South Africa have expressed that Omicron may be 500 percent more infectious than Delta, which the Ministry of Health is currently still addressing through its vaccination programs.

He says given that science is still trying to gather more data to establish how dangerous Omicron is and whether the virus can indeed evade vaccine immunity, it is only wise that Government delays the opening of borders.

Rabuka says a 3-week delay should be sufficient time for the appropriate science to come up with the data as to the danger posed by Omicron.

He says that Fiji with its broken economy aggravated by the COVID-19 Delta Pandemic which tragically has resulted in 700 deaths, is too fragile to effectively handle another immediate new COVID crisis.