Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the current COVID-19 situation is not a reality television show as we are dealing with an outbreak of a very deadly virus.
Doctor Fong says anyone who spends their time shoving cameras, recorders, or mics in the faces of potential COVID patients could end up becoming a COVID patient themselves, and strain the resources of the Ministry even further.
He says on Wednesday, Fiji TV and Fiji Times trailed the health officials and members of the disciplined forces into what would later be established as a screening zone in Wainitarawau, Cunningham.
Doctor Fong says before the officials could make the medical assessment that would close off the area, these reporters were in the soon-to-be-screening-zone, speaking with people on camera and filming people’s homes.
He says these reporters not only put themselves at-risk.
Due to this being a highly-transmissible virus, that means that their family members and the country at-large were put at-risk as well.
Doctor Fong says what these reporters have done was wrong.
He says morally and ethically it was wrong, from a public health perspective, it was wrong and it interfered with the good work the ministry is doing.
Contact tracing, screening and testing is underway in many parts of the country at the moment. Some residents have also been told to self quarantine while test results will be revealed by the Health Ministry.
Fijivillage stresses that the positive test results will only be revealed by the Ministry.
It would also make the work of the officials harder if they are containing an area because of a real risk and people getting bad information panic and flee the area. This would make matters worse for the whole country.
Do not be alarmed when you see Health Ministry officials in your area as they may be just conducting tests and contact tracing.
Please ensure you are following the COVID-19 guidelines – download and keep the careFiji app on, continue to wash your hands or use hand sanitizers and wear face masks when out amongst the members of the public.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says they are still seeing some media outlets bypassing official sources, publishing stories without the proper context and sparking panic among the public.
He says that sort of reckless reporting can set back this entire containment strategy.
Doctor Fong says it puts lives in danger, driving people to make bad decisions with bad information.
He says they hold briefings, every day, to get people the best available information, and they wait until they have the facts so that they can be communicated as clearly as possible to the public.
Doctor Fong says we don’t deal in rumours, we rely on facts and the media must hold themselves to that same standard.
He stresses that the media should not publish panicked nonsense for the sake of likes on Facebook or clicks on the website as the nation needs you to do better.
Stay safe and stay with fijivillage for all the facts. You can also get all the facts on our website, fijivillage.
Questions have been sent to Fiji TV and Fiji Times. They are yet to respond.
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