STATEMENT BY THE PERMANENT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES DR. JAMES FONG - 16.05.21

We have confirmed four new cases of COVID-19. 

These new cases all stem from the cluster in Nadali, Nausori, which is believed to have started with a close contact case of the first Makoi cluster. The four individuals are all household contacts of case number 167 confirmed yesterday. These patients were all entered into isolation yesterday and registered positive test results overnight. The Ministry's contact tracing has expanded to investigate the travel histories and potential contacts of these four individuals. 

We are prepared for rising numbers of new cases over the next two days as a high volume of swab results from primary and secondary contacts of existing cases are processed with Fiji CDC coming back online. 

There are currently 49 active cases of COVID-19 in the country. 4 are border quarantine cases 33 are local cases, and 12 are currently classified as cases of community transmission. There have been 3 recoveries over the past 24 hours. Fiji has now had 172 cases in total since our first case was detected on March 19th 2020, with 119 recoveries, and 4 deaths. 

The Fiji Police Force has reported widespread compliance with the lockdown measures in Suva and Nausori. We appreciate the public’s cooperation as we efficiently utilise the lockdown period to trace, test and, if necessary, isolate and treat COVID-positive patients. It is vital that Fijians living in Suva and Nausori continue to remain at home for the duration of the lockdown period. If you see gatherings, or other violations of our health measures, please call 158 or 917 to report them. If you are feeling any flu-like symptoms, such as fever, dry cough, fatigue, loss of appetite, loss of smell, and body ache, please call 158. Our teams will respond quickly to assist you.