Permanent Secretary for Health, Doctor James Fong says the ministry’s progress in contact tracing, screening and testing puts them on track for the Suva and Nausori lockdown measures to expire at 4am tomorrow however he says they will let the public know by midnight if the lockdown will be extended.
He says things will change if they are unable to find all or most of the missing five percent of contacts of the garment factory worker, or the testing reveals new and high-risk cases.
Doctor Fong says they will be loud and clear with the public if that happens but they are confident, at this stage, that they can identify the remaining contacts in Suva and Nausori and lift the lockdown on schedule.
He says they will let people know by midnight tonight if something changes.
Stay with Legend FM and fijivillage if there are any announcements tonight.
Doctor Fong says assuming they stay the course, the Suva-Nausori Lockdown Zone will revert into two separate containment areas, the Suva Containment Area and the Nausori Containment Area, from 4am tomorrow.
The borders of the areas are unchanged which means the border checkpoint at Wainibuku Bridge near Rups Nakasi will be back.
The Permanent Secretary says the lifting of that lockdown measure will mean that, within these containment areas, movement, for essential purposes only, may resume.
The system of cross-border deliveries of food and essential items into the containment areas will also resume, and supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and other essential businesses, as identified by the ministry, may operate from tomorrow.
However Doctor Fong says this is not cause for celebration.
He says it is certainly not an excuse to disregard any of the measures that will remain in place.
Doctor Fong says at its close, the curfew will have lasted 56 hours, meanwhile, the incubation period for the virus is 336 hours or two full weeks.
That means there is still a very serious risk that new cases may develop, so we must act accordingly.
Do not go outside of your home to meet with friends and family. Do not have parties.
He stresses that reckless celebrations of the end of the lockdown will give them no choice but to recommend another one so please make smart choices, and spare the nation from that drastic course of action.
Curfew hours will be from 11pm until 4 am, everyone should stay home unless they have an essential reason to leave, you should not mix with anyone who doesn’t share your home with you, no sports of any kind should be played, places of worship will remain closed, save for small funeral ceremonies, no non-work gatherings of any size should take place, anywhere you go outside of your home, you should have on a mask or face covering, wash your hands well and often, use sanitiser when you see it, businesses that are not on the list of essential services should not open, you should not share takis, bilos or cigarettes, any person-to-person interaction - even a maskless conversation -- can put you at-risk, and please download careFIJI, and keep your bluetooth switched on when you are in public spaces.
Doctor Fong also stresses that if they see serious threats to public wellbeing, such mass crowding, or people outside, in large numbers, without masks being properly worn, they will recommend that a hard lockdown come back into effect.
