Health Minister, Doctor Ifereimi Waqainabete says the four people in Fiji being monitored for Coronavirus which is now known as COVID-19 are feeling much better today however they remain in strict isolation.
Doctor Waqainabete says the test results will be out tomorrow.
There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Fiji.
A 15-month old girl developed respiratory symptoms in Suva after arriving in Fiji from the United States of America yesterday.
A 37-year-old Fijian woman who returned from Italy was flagged with respiratory symptoms during a health screening at Nadi Airport yesterday.
A three-year-old Fijian boy and his 26-year-old mother developed respiratory symptoms yesterday after returning from Bali and Singapore. Contact tracing continues for all four patients.
The Ministry of Health says as the symptoms of coronavirus are very similar to many other respiratory illnesses, it is expected that with time the Ministry will investigate more persons with relevant travel history and symptoms related to coronavirus.
There are now over 90,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus globally with over 80,000 cases alone in China. Over 3,000 people have died worldwide and most deaths have been recorded in China.
Coronavirus may infect up to 70% of world's population, expert warns
One of USA’s top experts on viruses, Marc Lipsitch from Harvard University cautions that 40 to 70% of the world's population will get COVID-19, and from that number, 1% of people who get symptoms, the disease caused by the coronavirus, could die.
Lipsitch has told CBS News that the virus can spread rapidly and people can transmit it before they know they are infected.
He says the 40 to 70% is a proportion of the adult population infected. Lipsitch says they know that some people who get this infection have no or almost no symptoms whatsoever. He says what we don't know is how many there are like that.
Lipsitch says the susceptibility to symptomatic infection seems to go up strictly with age, and especially up at the very oldest ages. He thinks it is now almost inevitable that this will transmit in a global fashion and take a big toll on essentially the entire globe.
How can you prevent yourself from getting coronavirus and other diseases?
•Frequently clean hands soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub
•Avoid touching your face – especially your mouth, nose and eyes
•When coughing and sneezing cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – throw tissue away immediately and wash hands
•Avoid close contact with anyone who has fever and cough – stay at least 1 metre away
•Avoid travel to mainland China, Iran, Italy and South Korea
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