The Permanent Secretary for Health Doctor James Fong says the soldier who contracted COVID-19 at a quarantine facility in Nadi is reported to not have left the site at any time during the transmission window however given that the potential window for transmission may be prolonged, they have to assume that the soldier had some contact with the daytime staff of the quarantine facility, including hotel workers.
He says these are staff who have gone on to enter public spaces.
The soldier in question tested negative for the virus during routine testing for border staff on the 10th of April 2021.
Doctor Fong says despite showing no symptoms, he was tested again on the 17th of April in line with border quarantine procedures.
That was when the positive result was registered.
Doctor Fong adds they suspect the soldier contracted the virus from two Fijian citizens who returned to Fiji from India on 10th April.
The two Fijian citizens both tested positive for the virus and were transported to the isolation ward of Lautoka Hospital on 16th April.
Doctor Fong stresses that the soldier was staying onsite at the quarantine facility, as is the protocol for all military personnel on rotation through border quarantine duties.
The Permanent Secretary adds while this is still a border quarantine case, there is a serious risk that cases could have entered the community.
He says that is why they are acting with decisive precaution to prevent any widespread transmission from this case.
The Permanent Secretary for Health says for them, this level of extreme precaution is the benchmark for keeping people safe. He says from last night, they have embarked on a contact tracing effort to identify those who came into contact with this individual as well as members of their households. Doctor Fong adds they have identified 69 first-generation contacts.
He says these are individuals who were working in the quarantine facility during the window of transmission and while they may not all be close contacts of this case, they have deliberately widened their definition of a first-generation contact to cast a wide net out of an abundance of caution.
Doctor Fong adds these individuals are all now in quarantine facilities, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.
He has revealed that so far, 56 have tested negative for the virus.
Doctor Fong says 13 results are still being processed.
He further says that they have identified and contained 267 second-generation contacts.
Doctor Fong explained that these are individuals sharing a household with the first generation contacts of the soldier.
He says these individuals were also taken into quarantine facilities last night and are being tested.
Doctor Fong says they should have the results starting from tomorrow. He says as these results come in, they will have a clear idea about whether their contact tracing needs to expand.
Doctor Fong stresses as of today, they are comfortable with the net they have cast.
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Positive case detected on Saturday Soldier in question was tested negative on the 10th of April.
Dr Fong says they suspect he contracted COVID-19 from a couple who arrived from India.
The soldier was staying on site at the quarantine facility in Nadi.
Dr Fong says the soldier may have come into contact with daytime staff at the quarantine facility.
He says contact tracing started last night
69 first generation contacts have been identified.
While they may not be in contact with the soldier, they are all in quarantine for 14 days 56 tests have come back negative 13 results still being awaited.
More tests are underway.
As the results come in, the Health Ministry will decide on further contact tracing.
Avoid non essential travel and gatherings as requested by the Prime Minister.
More decisions along this line will be made after further tests and assessments tomorrow.
Dr Fong says we all should not be complacent.
This is a test for Fiji’s next level of containment.
Total of 336 contact tracing done.
Lot of lessons learnt to work quickly and contact trace 336 from last night to this morning.
Stay focused on maintaining COVID-19 guidelines.
Next batch of vaccines arrive tomorrow.
Dr Fong calls on people to get vaccinated
Tests for the first generation contacts will be tested again on Day 12.
He also calls on people to only get information from official sources.
Contact tracing app is really useful. Right now they are working from the border quarantine case and whether any case went into the community.
What this case has shown is that the border guidelines are working - Dr Aalisha Sahukhan.
Dr Fong says there are certain things in quarantine that are hard to mitigate.
Something as simple as opening a hotel door on the corridor can result in the spread of the virus - Dr Sahukhan.
Dr Fong says we will only declare a lockdown as and when the measure dictates that they have to take that step.
He says lockdowns will not just be declared as some in Nadi and Lautoka have been asking for.
He says the interaction is also kept at a minimum.
All first and second generation contacts will be tested of the soldier who has tested positive in the border quarantine facility.
Many of the contacts of the second generation group has also been assembled in case there is a positive case - Dr Fong.
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