2 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed for Fiji – 1 is from Ra while another is a case that stayed at the Makoi family’s home.
This brings the total number of known COVID cases in Fiji to 111 since our first case was detected on March 19th 2020. 44 of these cases are currently active and isolated.
Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says after 685 laboratory tests and 20,201 in-person health screenings on Tuesday, they have the 2 new cases. Doctor Fong says 1 patient, the 110th in Fiji, is of some concern, and it will require additional investigation into his contacts to determine if he is definitively linked to other active cases.
He is a 53-year-old caretaker of the Ra Provincial Office, and he showed symptoms of COVID which included body aches.
The man visited the Nanukuloa Health Centre on 24th April.
Doctor Fong says the man has been moved securely to the isolation ward at Lautoka Hospital.
He thanked this man as he felt symptoms and reported them.
Doctor Fong says he is now getting the care he needs and he no longer poses a threat to anyone.
All of his family members have been quarantined at the Ra Special School with Police officers providing security at the facility.
The Fiji Police Force has also established Naiserelagi Village, Nanukuloa Village and Dokonavatu Settlement as containment zones in Ra.
50 primary and secondary contacts of the man in Ra were identified and screened for fever and symptoms.
All households in Nanukuloa Village, Naiserelagi Village and Dokonavatu Settlement have been informed to stay home until further notice.
Doctor Fong also says there are others out there who may have had contact with this man.
He says they need all Fijians living in the Rakiraki area to visit a screening clinic if they have COVID like symptoms. You can dial 158 for the Ministry of Health to come to your home to check on you. The second case is a 25 year old man who had stayed at the house of the woman from Makoi.
Doctor Fong says they established that he was a close contact through the contact tracing, and they tested him despite the fact that he had no symptoms.
He says this man stayed in Makoi from 12th to 19th of April and he went to Vunimono, Nausori where he was retrieved and swabbed.
The Permanent Secretary says they have 4 teams facilitating contact tracing based on his travel history.
He says the man has been securely transferred to an isolation unit in Colo-i-Suva.
His primary contacts are also quarantined in Colo-i-Suva.
Doctor Fong says effective contact tracing allowed them to catch this man’s infection early and stop further spread of the Makoi cluster.
